reading the series: book 1
by FMPtrumpets
Summary: Percy and a few others go back in time to the Winter Solstice meeting where the bolt was stolen, set during the beginning-ish of Son of Neptune. Includes Romans. Original, I know, but hey, each author has their own unique way of doing it at least.
1. Chapter 1

Quick disclaimer; I, sadly, do not own this series, Rick Riordan does.

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Jason's POV

Piper, Leo and I have been trying to figure out more about Percy Jackson since we got here, but all anybody will tell us is that the only people who can really tell us about him are Annabeth, some fa-, I mean, Satyr, named Grover, and Percy Jackson himself. Well, Percy isn't here, Annabeth is too busy with the Argo II to talk, and we've never met Grover. The three of us are starting to think that the guy is just a little over-exaggerated, especially me, I mean, everybody is always comparing me to him and it seems like I just don't quite meet his standards. We were on our way to tell Annabeth that we didn't think Percy sounded all that great. Bad plan, I know, but we were kind of hoping that she'd be mad enough to tell us about him, but hopefully not mad enough to kill us. That girl is SCARY. Anyway, one minute we were searching camp for Annabeth, the next we're standing in a very large room full of giant yelling people and very confused looking demigods, and unless I'm mistaken, there were two Clarisse's and two Annabeth's…

Percy's POV

I was going to meet Frank and Hazel so we could leave and get this quest over with. The way I see it, the sooner we leave, the sooner I can work on getting my memory back and finding Annabeth. Because it's pretty obvious that she's not here. As confusing as it is, I'm pretty sure that I've done something like this before, and I would kind of like to know why I feel like it. Plus, Hazel and Frank looked so worried that it would be nice to use know what I've done so I can know how to tell them that it will be ok. I was brought out of my thoughts by sudden yelling. I looked up to find myself in a large room (why does this look so familiar?) full of familiar looking people (again, why?) and everybody looked confused. Although, two of the people looked like Annabeth…

Hestia's POV

Considering the year-round campers are here and everything, I was hoping that this council meeting wouldn't turn into an argument over who Mother loves best. Guess that was too much to hope for when it comes to my brothers. I was about to go break them up when a very confused looking group of demigods and even a couple of mortals appeared. Zeus will not be- yup, he's seen them.

Here we go.

"WHO DARES INTERRUPT THIS MEETING?!" All the newcomers turned to stare at him for a moment before one of them, a blonde haired girl with grey eyes, in fact, an older looking version of one of the campers already here, Annabeth I think her name was, stepped forward and inquired "you mean you do not recognize us sir?"

That's when she noticed the younger campers, and her grey eyes widened in shock and realization. "Ok, this is a new one. I think we went back in time." As if to prove her point, a letter appeared in her hand and, Zeus being Zeus, rudely demanded that she read it.

 _Dear confused demigods and annoying gods and goddesses,_

 _We have sent you these demigods from the future so you may know what all your arguing and ignorance causes. Also, some of the demigods wanted to know more about the strongest hero to live, so this kills two birds with one stone, so to speak. We are hoping to teach you a lesson with this, so no killing any of the demigods, no fighting amongst yourselves, and be nice to the mortals. Demigods, you are to give your full titles, Percy we will return your memories to you momentarily._ ("YES!" Wait, why do some of them look so relieved to see him, weren't they just with him?) _Don't freak out over some of the demigods lineage either, the future is messed up_ (cue nods from all of the future demigods). _We have decided to give you books to read, they are about the future and they follow young Percy Jackson's life as a demigod so far._ (groans from the demigod from earlier. "Does it count if I don't remember it?") _Don't worry about your duties, time is now frozen outside the palace. Read and enjoy. And remember, no killing the demigods no matter what happens in the books, yes all of it really happened, just no killing anyone._

 _The Fates_

The girl looked up and said "well, I guess we should introduce ourselves? How about the future demigods first?" At this she looked up at Zeus questioningly, at which he nodded his consent.

"So, um, I guess I'll start? Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, sailor of the Sea of Monsters, walker of the Labyrinth, bearer of the sky, Savior of Olympus and official Architect of Olympus. At least I was before I was kicked out of it…" This last part was muttered so that it was barely heard. Athena looked startled that Olympus might need an official architect. Annabeth's younger self just stared at her.

"Piper McClean, daughter of Aphrodite, charmspeaker."

"Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, Supreme Commander of the Argo II, once its built anyway, and fire user."

"Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, drakon slayer." At this, Ares and younger _Clarisse_ looked shocked and smug, although _Clarisse_ looked a little apprehensive at that thought of fighting the drakon.

"Chris Rodriguez, son of Hermes" _Chris_ looked up at this, startled, he must have been unclaimed. Hermes just looked shocked. He stood up suddenly and yelled "oh my, Chris I am so sorry, I hope you can forgive me for that," at that he snapped his fingers and effectively claimed _Chris_.

"Percy Jackson, er, I still don't remem-" a moment later he went cross-eyed and continued with "nevermind that. Ugh, do I really have to say all of this Wisegirl?" "Yes, Seaweed Brain, you really have to say it all" Annabeth stated after going to hug him, a moment later she judo-flipped him "and if you ever leave me like that again so help me I will-" Everyone stared in amazement as he cut her off with a kiss. Athena stood up to blast him, but was interrupted by Percy saying "duly noted Wisegirl, but ah, you're making a scene in front of our parents." She looked up, blushed, then let him up and told him to continue with his introduction.

"Anyway, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, slayer of Medusa, the furies, the Minotaur a few times, a bunch of other monsters, I'd like to point out now that technically speaking Mount St. Helens was not my fault, I blame the Telkhines *here a few of the futures started laughing while others looked confused*, sailor of the Sea of Monsters, traveler of the Labyrinth, traveler of the Underworld too a few times, uh, bane of Hyperion, defeater of Kronos, *cue gasps of shock and outrage from the council* and Savior of Olympus. Er, did I leave anything out Wisegirl? Oh yeah, bearer of the sky as well."

When he was done, everybody just stared at him in shock, until one of the mortals broke the silence yelling "Perseus Jackson, you never told me all of that!" Percy just flinched and looked around just in time to be hit by her flying tackle hug. "And if you ever go disappearing like that again I will ground you for the rest of your life young man!" He just chuckled and hugged her "I missed you too mom, but this time it wasn't my fault." She just chuckled and said almost fondly, "it never really is, is it?" Watching them made me smile, this was how family should act, not like my brothers and their constant fighting. Speaking of my brothers… "Can we continue with the introductions please?!" Zeus, as impatient as always, demanded.

"Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades, *gasps of astonishment from some of the demigods and outrage from some of the council* traveler of the Labyrinth, Ghost King, heir to the Underworld, and…" here he flinched and looked towards the astonished demigods from earlier "ambassador of Pluto to the twelfth legion and city of New Rome." At this, all the council stared, and I understood their confusion, here was a Greek demigod, claiming to be Pluto's ambassador to the Romans. On top of that, judging from the Romans, for I could see that they were Romans, reactions, he didn't tell them that he was Greek. That's when Percy jumped in "oh, yeah what was up with not telling me when you saw me yesterday?! You knew and you said nothing?!"

"I'm sorry Percy, but I swore on the River Styx not to tell either camp about the other, and I couldn't interfere in Hera's plans, I wanted nothing more than to tell you." At this Annabeth jumped in, clearly ticked off at the thought that Nico had known where her boyfriend was, for it was clear those two were dating, and had not told her where and that he was alright. "And you didn't at least tell us that he was alright because…?" At this one of the Roman girls jumped in to defend him, stating that Percy hadn't stumbled into camp until yesterday. They would have continued to argue, but my dear patient brother, note the sarcasm, cleared his throat and they decided to continue with the introductions.

"Travis-"

"and Connor-"

"Stoll, sons of Hermes and pranksters extraordinaire" Two boys that definitely looked like sons of Hermes stated proudly, they also looked like twins, although if memory served, they were a year apart and Travis was the taller one. Hermes looked unsurprisingly proud at their pranking title.

"Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter"

"Will Solace, son of Apollo and top healer at camp"

"Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, Lieutenant of Artemis and savior of Olympus" Both Artemis and Zoe looked shocked that this girl was the lieutenant, but before they could ask what happened to Zoe in the future, Poseidon stood up and looked ready to question his brothers about their children.

I encouraged the demigods to continue before they could, giving Poseidon a look that clearly told him to sit down.

"Frank Zhang, son of Mars, Centurion of the Fifth Cohort, Twelfth Legion Fulminata Rome."

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, Fifth Cohort, Twelfth Legion Fulminata Rome." Hades looked like he was going to explode at this. Otherwise he just stared at her in shock.

"Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, Praetor Twelfth Legion Fulminata Rome, defeater of Krios and toppler of the Titan Throne." Hera stood and was about to say something, when "touch him Hera and you will regret it very much" Thalia warned.

"Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona, Praetor Twelfth Legion Fulminata Rome."

"Dakota, son of Bacchus, Centurion of the Fifth Cohort, Twelfth Legion Fulminata Rome"

"I would just like to point out that, no, that is not wine he is drinking, but rather very sugared Kool-aid…" Reyna hastily pointed out.

"Gwendolyn ( **a/n does it ever say her last name?** ), Roman Senator and former Centurion of the Fifth Cohort, Twelfth Legion Fulminata Rome"

"Alright, but who are these others with you? Those four are not demigods" Zeus stated, quite obviously too, might I add. The woman who scolded Percy earlier curtsied, my family will be so shocked, a mortal with manners, and said "Sally Blofis, Percy's mother. Lord Zeus, if I hear that you ever threatened my son again, you will regret it, never doubt a mother."

Ok, maybe not so much with the manners? But it is clear how much she loves her boy, this is how a family should be, hopefully my brothers do learn something from this…

"I'm, uh, Paul Blofis, Sally's husband and Percy's stepfather, er, p-p-pleasure to er, meet you" Oh dear, the man looks shell shocked to see us. Well he is mortal, and its obvious he knows who his step-son really is but…

"Grover Underwood, Satyr and Lord of the Wild." That caught my nephews attention, maybe Pan really did pass on… oh dear.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare, mortal and Oracle of Delphi at your service."

"I got a new oracle?! Oh yeah man!" Apollo then proceeded to start dancing around the room, catching the surprised Oracle and twirling her in what I'm assuming to be celebration. The council just watched in amusement while the demigods on the floor scrambled to get out of the way, although Hades looked surprisingly guilty when the Oracle was brought up, the looks he received from Percy and Nico didn't go unnoticed by me either. When Apollo finally calmed down and let go of the poor Oracle (courtesy of Artemis dragging him by the ear back to his throne), Zeus turned his attention to the _demigods_ from our time, and it was then that Ladies Amphitrite and Persephone were noticed, as well as Triton. Huh, wonder what he is doing here, although judging by the glare he is sending Percy, it is possibly so he can learn to get along with his half-brother. Zeus quickly introduced them for those demigods who didn't know and (rather rudely too) requested that the remaining visitors introduce themselves again.

Chiron's POV

When I requested to being my year-round campers to Olympus for a field trip visit, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind. And the boy Percy, when I met him at Yancy earlier in the year, I never expected him to accomplish all that. Sure, I expected great things from him, same as all my students, but, fighting and defeating Father? As well as all the other things he listed in his very long title? And the rest of my students, I couldn't be prouder hearing of their accomplishments, although I have a feeling that they did not share everything, although I do worry at some of the faces I don't see and am glad that the daughter of Zeus is no longer a tree, it sounds as though much has happened in the next… must have only been four to five years. And I must say, after all the fighting over the centuries it is good to see my students getting along with Romans. Although, what could have possibly caused them to come together like this I don't think I want to find out. Why must my Lord Zeus be so impatient all the time…? Wait, I hope he didn't hear that. Oh well, not much he can do to me anyway.

"Chiron, trainer of Greek heroes, and I must say Praetor, it is good to see Greeks and Romans getting along after all the fighting over the centuries."

"thank you sir, I just wish our coming together was under more… pleasant, circumstances." Hmmm, a fighter who can stand politically, Lupa trained her well.

" _Grover Underwood_ , satyr and protector" That satyr lacks any kind of confidence.

"Luke Castellan, Son of Hermes" I nodded at him, although I couldn't help but notice some of the future demigods glares, or the fact that some of them had a hand on their weapons. Wonder what happened.

" _Annabeth Chase_ , daughter of Athena"

" _Travis_ -"

"and _Connor_ -"

" _Stoll,_ sons of Hermes" Yes, and quite the irritating team too, I still have not forgiven them for that prom dress incident…

" _Clarisse La Rue_ , daughter of Ares"

"Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus" Why are all the future demigods looking so sad all of a sudden? And why does young Percy have a guilty look in his eye, did something… oh. Oh no, not another one, I love my job, but sometimes…

" _Chris Rodriguez_ , uncl- er, I mean, son of Hermes"

"Is that everyone? Right then, where are these books we were supposed to get? I want to get this- oomph." His sentence was cut off by a box falling on top of his head. My current students tried to remain respectful and not laugh, although that may be out of fear, as did the Romans, but it was clear that the future Greeks held no such restrictions. Some of them were rolling on the ground laughing, as were Apollo and Hermes. When they finally stopped, Reyna stared at them and demanded "how can you be so disrespectful? I wouldn't be surprised if Lord Zeus were to strike you down for laughing at him!"

"Ah but Reyna, you see, all us Greeks have seen worse, and done worse then insult Uncle Z. Besides, he wouldn't dare touch us with our parents watching. " Percy explained. All the gods and Romans just sat there and stared. Afterall, what could be worse then insulting the King of the gods by laughing right at his face? When Zeus finally gained his composure, he tossed the book to Athena, "you're reading first."

"Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief. **Chapter one, I accidentally vaporize my pre-algebra teacher** " she began.

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Too much, too little?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still do not own anything from the series or the characters. That happy right would be Rick Riordan's

So far, support for bringing in several people, I will decide who I want based on who has the most support and who I feel is easiest to work in

And if your going to write a review as a Guest telling me you hate me, just, why? I prefer knowing what I did to people. And for those who want really cute fluffy Percy and Annabeth moments, I'm not good at that stuff, nor am I really comfortable writing those, so... but I will do what I can.

I'm changing up the format of this, so enjoy.

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No one's POV

 **"Chapter one: I accidentally vaporize my Pre-algebra teacher**. "

Annabeth turned to stare at Percy, "do I even want to know?"

"er, remember that Fury on the bus? That I told I liked better as a math teacher?"

While all the Underworld people are left to wonder how he was alive, Annabeth laughed (oh yeah!) and curled further into Percy's side while he put his arms around her. This did not go unnoticed by Poseidon and Athena, however before Athena could mention it Percy's words seemed to catch up to Poseidon.

"Hades, if I find out you sent a Fury after my son, you are dead." A few people scooted away from him, he sounded way too calm, and that was never good. They saw it as the calm before the storm.

 **(Look, I didn't... one, my advice is:)**

"RUN AWAY PERCY IS GIVING ADVICE!" from Thalia, surprisingly Grover, and Nico. Will they ever grow up?

"Alright you three, name one time I gave really bad advice." Percy demanded with one of his famous death-glares.

"Well there was the time when, oh, wait no that worked, um how about, no, that worked too..."

"That's what I thought. Please continue Lady Athena."

 **(Close this book... to lead a normal life.)**

"Sadly Percy, that would only work for a weaker demigod" Reyna spoke up.

"Yeah, I know that now." Percy huffed after giving Annabeth a look as though daring her to comment. So, she did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at him.

He laughed and kissed her on the cheek, which made several girls smile, and Athena to growl.

Piper was just left thinking about how perfect they were together, and she was going off in her own little world until she realized what was happening. SHE WAS TURNING INTO HER MOTHER! SOMEBODY SAVE HER!

Poseidon just looked shocked that one of his kids could get a child of _Athena_ to like them, let alone act like that around them. He wasn't sure how he felt about this yet, but Percy _looked_ happy with her...

 **(Being a half-blood is dangerous.)**

Check.

 **(It's scary.)**

Double check.

 **(Most of the time... nasty ways.)**

And triple check.

The future demigods all sighed thinking of those lost in the war, Annabeth glanced over at Chiron and he was looking just as depressed.

She will never understand how he does it, he watches so many demigods, _kids_ fall and yet...

 **(If you're a normal kid, reading this)**

"why would normal people be reading this, I thought we didn't want them to know?" Connor asked. Many face-palmed, while Paul, with the patience of the freshmen English teacher that he is, explained that they probably think its fiction. "oh, ok then"

 **(because you think it's fiction,)**

"oh, oops."

Everyone just snickered.

( **great. Read on... ever happened.)**

"So do we"'s chorused from the demigods, even from Percy's mom and step-dad.

Meanwhile, some of the gods started wondering...

 **(But if you... something stirring inside-)**

Yelps were heard as Katie and Luke each preemptively smacked their respective set of Stolls, making them regret opening their mouths.

Everyone else snickered, they saw it coming a mile away.

 **(stop reading immediately...** **they'll come for you.)**

Percy got a dark look on his face as all the other demigods just shuddered.

 **(Don'** **t** **say I didn't warn you.)**

"But you didn't- "

"Nico, I knew you all of two seconds before the blasted _Manticore_ showed up, so I don't want to hear it." That got a stir from the parents, Poseidon in particular looked a little panicked, 'when did my son face the Manticore?'

 **(My name is Percy Jackson.)**

"I thought it was Athena" This came from Apollo, who promptly got a book, not the one being read, thrown at his head.

 **(I'm twelve years old... in upstate New York.)**

"Umm, Percy do I even want to know what happened this time?" Poseidon asked.

"Well, now that you asked, no. No you do not. I think you're about to find out though... wait, you know what happened those other few times?"

"Of course, I've always kept an eye on you, that thing with the shark tank, pure gold son." Percy looked like he was about to faint from, disbelief? Joy? Annabeth nudged him and sadly whatever bubble he was in seemed to have popped. Ooops.

Hestia gave Zeus a warning look that clearly told him to say nothing about Poseidon watching his son, while Amphitrite gave Poseidon a reproachful look, before going back to studying Sally, as though trying to understand what was so special about this, this, _mortal_ that got Poseidon to cheat on her, again.

 **(Am I a troubled kid?)**

"YES!"

"Is that even a question worth answering?"

"Why do you even need to ask?"

"Wow guys, your faith in me is so inspiring." There's that sarcasm the futures missed so much.

 **(Yeah. You could say that.)**

The Stoll, both sets, were weeping with joy that he admitted it, and one of them even muttered something about cancelling his therapy session. Oh brother.

 **(I could start at any point in my short miserable)**

"Miserable? What does he mean by that" Poseidon muttered, probably louder than he intended.

 **(life to prove it... Greek and Roman stuff.)**

"Chiron, please tell me that you were not the one to propose that trip, it was awful!" Surprisingly, this was Grover, not Percy, although Percy was nodding in agreement.

Chiron looked surprised, "I would not know, this is the future remember? Although, was it me leading it?"

"Forget that, how could you not enjoy such a trip! Do the two of you not want to learn?!" This from, guess who, Athena. The screech at the end of her sentence put nearly everyone rolling on the ground clutching their ears.

She continued once everyone was somewhat recovered, she may have been indignant, but if she was going to give a lecture they were going to hear it. "I expect it from the stupid sea spawn, but-"

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL PERCY STUPID! HE IS SMARTER THAN YOU THINK!" All the futures who knew Percy jumped up to defend him, startling all the past kids, Jason, Leo and Piper. This just made Leo and Piper think, while Jason was thinking about how much smarter he was. Athena looked taken aback, and settled for glaring at Percy after noticing that Annabeth yelled at her the loudest. It took Hestia clearing her throat to get her reading again.

 **(I know- it sounds like torture.)**

Athena growled, thinking about stupid sea spawns, plotting ways of getting Annabeth away from him, that Luke boy looks much more respectable.

 **(Most Yancy field...** **trip, so I had hopes.)**

"Ahh, yes, Grover, I believe I was the one to plan this trip." Chiron said. Both Percy and Grover groaned, thinking they should have known, only Chiron.

A scandalized Athena spoke up through clenched teeth, "you should never shirk away from an opportunity to learn!"

 _Annabeth_ spoke up, "ummm, Mother? I can speak from experience that for a demigod, street smarts are often more important than book smarts. Not that I'm saying it's not important to learn, but when you throw ADHD and dyslexia into the mix... even my brothers, sisters, and I have trouble learning in a classroom." To say Athena was shocked was an understatement, but then all the demigods started nodding in agreement, Annabeth looked at her past self in surprise.

Which just made her start thinking of ways to make it easier for them to learn, if even _her_ children had trouble... she shook herself and went back to the book.

 **(Mr. Brunner was... didn't put me to sleep.)**

"Oh Percy," Sally sighed.

"It's ok mom, I know. And there's the disappointed look I really hate..." The last part was so quiet that only Annabeth heard.

 **(I hoped the... wouldn't get in trouble.)**

"Wait, we are talking about Prissy here, right? 'Cause he's never NOT in trouble." Clarisse asked, clearly amused at the thought of PRISSY not getting in trouble.

"It's nice to see you again too Clarisse. Besides that, you know it's not always my fault. Remember Charybdis? As I recall, that was your idea."

Now Poseidon looked like he was going to faint at this new information, that his son was anywhere near Charybdis... and the Sea of Monsters.

Annabeth was amused, several of the futures were confused, not knowing what they were talking about, and Clarisse was indignant. "It's not my fault my cannons didn't work!" Now the futures were REALLY confused. What on earth were they talking about?

"No, but it was your idea to put a beaten, rundown confederate iron ship in that position. "

"OK!" Thank goodness for Annabeth! "Are you two going to argue about that forever? Shut up so we can read!" This was followed by a "Yes ma'am" from both Percy and Clarisse, although Percy followed his up by hugging her tighter.

Grover looked relieved at the averted argument, they had been arguing about whose fault that one was for years.

 **(Boy, was I wrong.)**

Many of the future demigods and even a few of the past _demigods_ sent looks Percy's way that clearly said, Ya think? Jason was left questioning everyone who'd ever followed Percy's sanity. Jason was clearly the better leader, not someone who couldn't even stay out of trouble on a school field trip. Camp Half-Blood had clearly been over-exaggerating Percy.

 **(See, bad things... a Revolutionary War cannon.)**

"ummm, Percy..."

"I maintain that they should not have had a WORKING, LOADED cannon near a bunch of elementary school kids." Percy deadpanned, then went back to hugging Annabeth. Athena seemed to go red at the sight, but glanced at Hestia and kept reading.

 **(I wasn't aiming... expelled anyway.)**

"Story of my life." Percy sighed dramatically, but anybody who knew him saw the look in his eyes, although they decided not to comment.

Jason, however, "What on earth were you aiming at?! Why was an idiot like you even messing with that thing?"

Needless to say, if looks could kill... Jason then decided that he would be safer not speaking for a while.

 **(And before that, at... an unexpected swim.)**

"Hah! That was great too! That story is still flying around the oceans from when those sharks were released!" Poseidon almost fell out of his throne laughing.

"Poseidon please don't encourage him." Sally groaned exasperated.

The Stolls, both sets, looked like they might explode from excitement.

"Percy, why didn't you..." Travis started.

"Ever tell us any of this..."

"Stuff man?"

"I thought we were bros." And as always they finished together.

"Oh please, like you two, er, four? Whatever. As if the pranking menaces of Camp Half-Blood need any more ideas. (cue high fives amongst the now four Stoll brothers) Besides, remember that syrup fiasco?"

All the future Greeks, minus Leo and Piper of course, either groaned, cracked up, or started giving the Stolls the death glare of all death glares.

"Do we," Chiron started before being cut off by Clarisse, "No, no you do not." She said this while looking at the _Stolls_ , and everyone understood that the futures did not want them getting ideas before they had to. Percy gave the Stolls a look that clearly dared them to tell their younger counterparts anything.

 **(And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.)**

"No, we require more!" cried all the Hermes children, even Luke, Leo, Hermes, Apollo, and even Ares.

 **(This trip, I was determined to be good.)**

"How'd that work for ya Perce?" Annabeth questioned.

"Shut up, you guys are mean." Percy whined as everyone cracked up, although he cheered up when Annabeth pecked him on the cheek, _Annabeth_ looked like she was trying to figure this out, and Athena like she was ignoring them in the hopes that them being together would all turn out to be a bad dream.

 **(All the way into... kleptomaniac girl)**

"Not mine!" Hermes defended when Percy, the Grovers, and even Chiron looked at him questioningly.

Their stares were even slightly accusatory.

 **(** **hitting my best... ketchup sandwich.)**

"I'm sorry, but did you just..." Aphrodite couldn't bring herself to continue, that and she was trying not to lose her lunch at the thought.

Percy shot her a sympathetic look, "Yes, unfortunately."

 **(Grover was an easy... wispy beard on his chin.)**

Throughout this, both Grover's were glaring at Percy, who was trying very hard to ignore them. Finally, he couldn't take it. "What?! Its the truth and besides that, your still my best friend no matter what, right?" They relented and let the reading continue.

 **(On top of all... enchilada day in the cafeteria.)**

"Grover!" Annabeth, Chiron, Poseidon, Mr. D, even Hera, all groaned. Everyone else who knows Grover just found it hilarious, because that was just like their friend.

"Wait a minute, what is a Faun doing in a school? And what did you mean earlier when you called yourself a protector?" Reyna spoke up for the first time in a long time. The Greeks were startled, because they had forgotten the Romans were there. Even Jason forgot they were there, and he was Roman!

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that, well Reyna, first off, Grover is a Satyr, not a Faun, there is a HUGE difference. Satyr's actually help out around camp, find demigods and protect them while leading them to camp, they don't beg for money and food." Percy explained. "They also help out on quests..." The Romans were slack-jawed at the thought of a helpful Fa- Satyr. Both Grovers were indignant at the thought of Sa- Fauns BEGGING for money or food.

 **(Anyway, Nancy Bobofit... threatened me with death)**

"What?!"

 **(by in-school suspension)**

"Oh"

 **(** **if anything bad... happened on this trip.)**

"Awww, but where's the fun in that? Piper, where's the fun in that?!" Leo was just being, Leo.

Piper slapped him upside the head while Percy grinned at him and told him, very seriously,

"No fun at all my friend, no fun at all."

 **("I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.)**

"Please do! This is getting boring!" Ares burst out.

Frank looked a little sick at this, both Clarisse's even looked a little unsure, and the rest of the demigods, minus Percy who had heard it all from him before, just looked a little disturbed.

 **(Grover tried to... peanut butter.")**

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, it's not the best thing in your hair, but I was trying to get him to stay." Grover acknowledged to the looks he was getting.

 **(He dodged...** **"That's it.")**

"YES!"

 **(** **I** **started to get... back to my seat.)**

"Awww man!"

 **("You're already on... anything happens.")**

"Psh, I've been blamed for worse" Percy said. The futures who knew nodded in agreement, some even shot Sally sad looks, which left those from the present wondering what happened. Poseidon got worried for Sally at those looks, something that did not go unnoticed by Triton and Amphitrite, who promised themselves that they would speak with him later about loyalty to his family, not to mention the fact that Sally was married now.

 **(Looking back on it... to get myself into.)**

"Percy, you never told me about any problems in a museum BEFORE camp." At this Percy looked suddenly nervous at the fact that he forgot to tell his very skilled with a knife girlfriend about the Alecto in the museum. He leaned over and whispered something in her ear.

She looked ticked, then worried, then resigned, then amused. As if she could clearly picture whatever he had just told her and couldn't imagine anything else.

 **(Mr. Brunner led...** **through the big echoey)**

Athena twitched at this word, but somehow managed to restrain herself, although she promised to have a long talk with her daughter when they took a break

 **(galleries, past marble...** **three thousand years.)**

"I know, I know, longer, right?" Percy asked with a smirk in Annabeth's direction. She just kissed him and settled back down.

 **(He gathered us...** **for a girl about our age.)**

"Chiron, was that-?" Hermes started to ask but couldn't seem to bring himself to continue.

"I do not know, perhaps the book will describe the carvings." Chiron responded sadly.

 **(He told us about... me the evil eye.)**

'Mrs. Dodds? Isn't that one of Alecto's- oh. I am so dead when Poseidon finds out.' What little color existed on Hades face vanished, something luckily not noticed by Poseidon, but it was by the futures, leaving those who knew to smirk, knowing he was in trouble, and those who didn't to wonder what was going to happen.

Jason didn't notice anything though either, he was too caught up in dreams of proving his superiority over Percy.

 **(Mrs. Dodds was this... had a nervous breakdown.)**

'Definitely Alecto. I should probably say something now before anything happens.' Hades glanced towards Percy to find him watching with an amused and... _pitying_ look.

Hades was about to open his mouth to speak but was cut off by Percy saying, "So, just a heads up, Mrs. Dodds is actually Alecto, don't kill Hades, he had his reasons which will be made clear."

Poseidon had been getting out of his seat when Percy finished this statement off with a look that clearly told him to stay, he paused and slowly sunk back down, deciding to trust his son. Triton watched all this with an odd look on his face.

Jason on the other hand was wondering how a weakling like that had been stuck with a Fury for a teacher and lived. Oh well, maybe he just hadn't been important enough to kill.

 **(From her first day... I was devil spawn.)**

"Hey Nico, I thought you said she was your lawyer." Thalia questioned.

"Ummm, yes, why." Nico hesitantly answered.

"Well, then how is it that she's getting you and Kelp Head mixed up? Shouldn't she know her own Lords kid?" Nico glared while Percy fist-bumped Thalia, trying to keep his laughter under some semblance of control.

"At least I didn't... you know what, I got nothin'." Nico said before sitting back and sulking. This sent all the demigods to the floor laughing, past and future alike.

The gods, especially Hades, watched all this in amazement.

Children of Poseidon and Zeus were getting along with a son of Hades, no, not just getting along with.

 _Treating him like a brother._ Hades was so used to his children being treated like a disease that he didn't know what to do with this scene in front of him.

 **(She would point... "Now, honey,")**

"Ugh, why does she have to call me that?!" Percy groaned.

"Don't worry Perce, she calls me that too, its so annoying!" Nico exclaimed.

Poseidon started to laugh before he realized what Percy had said, "Ummm, Percy, son, you make it sound like you've seen her multiple times, even after she was no longer your teacher."

At this Percy froze and seemed to be contemplating what was safe to mention. Finally he decided with, "We've met several times over the years."

 **(real sweet,)**

"Ugh!"

 **(** **and I knew...** **workbooks until midnight)**

"Nooooo!"

 **(I told Grover... "You're absolutely right.")**

Nobody even bothered saying anything to this, although the sound of many foreheads being smacked echoed throughout the throne room.

 **(Mr. Brunner kept...** **said, "Will you** _ **shut up**_ **?")**

"By the way Percy, did you know that she was snickering about you?" Grover innocently inquired.

A pin could be heard dropping in the room. Percy and _Grover_ looked a little green and horrified. Annabeth looked like she was going to explode, and after a moment everyone else was heard trying to hold in their laughter while Percy buried his face in Annabeth's hair trying to get that thought out of his head.

A moment later Grover yelped as Riptide lodged in the couch next to him. Disappearing back to Percy's pocket a few minutes later.

 **(It came out louder than I meant it to.)**

Percy just sighed. 'Naturally,' went through many minds in the room.

 **(The whole group...** **have a comment?")**

Nearly all the demigods groaned. Chiron looked confused, 'what is wrong with them? Surely they know that Percy is smarter then he sometimes acts?'

His silent question was answered when Clarisse asked him if he had any idea how embarrassing it was to be put on the spot like that.

 **(My face was totally red.)**

All the demigods looked at Chiron like, See? Chiron pointedly ignored them.

 **(I said, "No, sir.")**

Some snickers from his friends and a snort from Jason and Athena.

 **(Mr. Brunner pointed... picture represents?")**

'Yeah right, if he knows that, I'll eat my favorite book/sword.' Thought both Athena and Jason.

 **(I looked at... eating his kids, right?")**

Jason and Athena's jaws dropped, he knew the answer?! But this guy was an idiot who knew

nothing!

Meanwhile, grumbles about, "It would be that one/ Of all the pictures/ Why is it always this one," were heard from all the older gods/goddess's, basically the ones who had this happen to them.

Hermes and Chiron looked at each other. Yes, it was THAT stele. The stele of Hermes daughter, the one he failed.

 **("Yes," Mr. Brunner...** **was the king god, and-")**

"EXCUSE ME?!" Zeus roared, "HE IS NOT ONE OF US!"

Percy just quirked an eyebrow at him as if asking whether he was done before he said, "believe me, I know."

That raised some eyebrows, he spoke as if he had met him, but then they remembered what he said when introducing himself. " _defeater of Kronos,_ " did that mean Kronos came back? Most refused to believe it, it was impossible. Others felt that, while it was impossible, they should be prepared in any case.

 **("God?" Mr. Brunner asked...** **rock to eat instead.)**

"Told you, Zeus!"

 **(** **And later, when...** **girls behind me.)**

"You said it girls, not that they have any room to be talking..." the goddesses who'd been eaten said.

 **("-and so there... "and the gods won.")**

Silence.

Piper tentatively spoke up, "did you just describe a giant war as a 'big fight'"?

"Why yes, yes I did, er, Piper, right? When you're me, you don't have time for long explanations, seeing as how I'm usually fighting something, or someone." On that last comment he actually glared at, Ares?

Many of the gods were wondering why he looked at Ares when he said 'someone,' but Athena had already continued reading, so they figured they would just have to wait and see.

 **(Some snickers from the group.)**

"There's nothing funny about war you pathetic mortals! War should be respected!" Surprisingly, ALL the war people in the room shouted this, even Frank and Reyna.

 **(Behind me, Nancy... Kronos ate his kids'.")**

At this all the futures who'd fought in the titan war snorted, even those who fought the Roman side of it. If only she knew... if only she knew.

 **("And why, Mr. Jackson,... matter in real life?")**

"Busted..." _Grover sang._

 **("Busted," Grover muttered.)**

Everyone laughed while the two Grover's turned tomato red.

 **("Shut up,"... than her hair.)**

"If I hadn't been there to see it for myself, I wouldn't believe that that was possible." Grover grumbled.

 **(At least Nancy..** **. He had radar ears.)**

At this all the Hermes children in the room, even _Chris_ and Luke, started grumbling about spoiled pranks. Chiron, who of course heard all of it, smiled, rather proud of his "radar ears."

Of course, if it hadn't been for the fact that he had to deal with Hermes children for so many years, his hearing and ability to sense trouble probably wouldn't be nearly so... fine tuned.

 **(I thought... "I don't know, sir."**

'There's his stupidity.' Both Jason and Athena thought.

Percy had a dark look on his face when he stated, "I definitely know now."

 **("I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed.)**

Percy sighed

 **("Well** , **half credit... us back outside?")**

People looked at Chiron, all with incredulous looks on their faces. "HAPPY NOTE?" was the general cry.

 **(The class drifted off... acting like doofuses.)**

Thalia looked triumphantly at Percy and Nico, who both pointedly ignored her.

Artemis caught the look and figured that this topic must be a long ongoing argument between the three. She was a little wary of her future lieutenant having such a close relationship with _boys_ , but this seemed to be more of a brother/sister relationship, so...

 **(Grover and I... said, "Mr. Jackson.")**

Groans arose from the futures, "really Chiron? You're really keeping Bottomless Pit Jackson from his food? Not a good idea." Thalia stated, with all those who know Percy nodding, even Sally, Paul, and the Romans.

Annabeth caught the look on the Romans faces and cracked up. When calmed down she ignored the looks she was getting and asked the Romans how long Percy had been there for them to already know his eating habits.

"He just arrived yesterday, just in time for dinner, and we just finished lunch, so..." Reyna said. Now ALL the future Greeks were cracking up while Percy just pouted.

 **(I knew what...** **Mr. Brunner. "Sir?")**

"Wait, Prissy can be polite?" Clarisse inquired in an innocent voice that nobody was buying."

Percy did the mature thing and stuck out his tongue.

 **(Mr. Brunner had...** **apply to it."** **"Oh.")**

"Ahhh, the famous Percy Jackson answer, we should really make that his middle name. Percy "Oh" Jackson." Nico said wistfully.

Hades was floored, he was still trying to understand the dynamics of this group of futures. Aside from the Romans and those other two, what were there names, Leo and Piper? Anyway, all the future Greeks seemed close, they acted more like a family then the gods did.

Ares also noticed the group dynamic with the future Greeks, and he realized that this kind of ease in a group only came from people who fought together in something like a war, where you had to put every trust in the person beside you to survive. His thoughts turned towards the kids titles. His daughter slayed the Drakon, Uncle P's kid beat a bunch of monsters and Kronos, several of them went to the Sea of Monsters. He could practically smell the Achilles curse on the boy, but it was faint like it was gone now, everything from their titles pointed to a war. And then there were his own..."dreams..."

He mentally told the rest of the council his concerns. Zeus was of course denying the possibility, Poseidon had a freak out moment about his kid fighting a war like that, and the others were, cautious.

The pause as the gods digested this new information was long enough to make the demigods nervous and antsy, finally Percy burst out with,"Hey, can we get food sometime soon? I'm hungry."

That broke the tension, Hestia promised they would get food soon, then she looked at the time and decided they should probably actually go to bed after this chapter, it was past midnight. The demigods cheered at the thought of food and sleep, mostly food, but Jason had noticed NONE of this exchange, he was lost in his own world where he beat Percy (in his mind an easy thing to do) and took control of both camps as was his birthright as the son of Jupiter.

Jason had been skeptical before, now he was convinced of Percy's inferiority.

 **("What you learn... you, Percy Jackson.")**

"Ask for the best and the best you shall receive." Annabeth said with a smile. The other futures nodded, even Leo and Piper. By this point they felt that they had heard enough to know he was the best. Percy blushed, but grinned at Annabeth before kissing her.

Athena went red from her efforts of not commenting, still determined that those two being together would turn out to be a bad dream.

 _Annabeth_ was still trying to figure it out. How on earth had she, the daughter of Athena, fallen for a son of Poseidon?! They shouldn't get along at all, let alone be together!

 **(I wanted to... me so hard.)**

"And yet, if he hadn't, we would all be dead." Nico stated. The seriousness in his voice freaked out all the parents in the room, even Amphitrite and Persephone. They might not like their step-sons on principle, after all, they were by another woman, but it was also clear that their husbands cared. Besides, they were mothers, of course they would care for children.

Jason scoffed at Nico's statement, drawing the glares of the others.

 **(I mean, sure... suit of Roman armor)**

The Romans in the room started, and Hazel asked, "Why Roman when your Greek, sir?"

"Well, my dear, I knew Percy was a demigod, and powerful at that, and I didn't want to draw any more attention to him by having a bunch of Greek stuff near him." Chiron answered calmly. "However, I am assuming by the looks on their faces that I was not successful in that regard."

For Percy and Grover both had a look on their face that clearly said, "Yeah right, like that would've worked."

They noticed everyone watching them and pulled a Stoll, "What?" They looked at each other, shocked that they had said that at the same time, but then grinned and high-fived. Leaving the girls to their sentiments of, 'boys.'

 **(and shouted: "What ho!")**

'Wait, what ho? Ok...'

 **(** **and challenged us...** **less spell them correctly.)**

Athena's derisive snort didn't go unnoticed, but before Poseidon could comment, Sally spoke up.

"Need I remind you, Lady Athena, that A) my son is dyslexic, and B) his mother is sitting right here, and she is not happy about him being insulted. And you do not want to see a MOTHER unhappy where her son is concerned." All this was said in a sweet tone that honestly scared people more than Hades Helm or Hermes signature smirk that made everyone want to run and hide until whatever he had planned was over.

While everyone else was scared, Percy and Paul were looking at her in shock, Percy had never heard his mother like that, and Paul was just, shocked. They both knew how protective she was of her family, but...

Once Poseidon came to his senses, he grinned with pride at Sally, while Amphitrite felt that she had her answer of what drew Poseidon to this mortal.

 **(I mumbled something... this girl's funeral.)**

Both Chiron and Hermes sighed sadly, and many of the Council shot Hermes sympathetic looks. It was because of that girl that Zeus came up with laws so that they couldn't get too involved with their children. It was to protect the parents from a similar situation. Of course, it was still hard, but it was better then what had happened to Hermes... it had taken him years to start acting like his usual self again.

 **(He told me to...** **hurricane blowing in.)**

"Weird weather, huh? So Father and Uncle P are mad about something and it happened around Christmas. Wait a minute! That's this week isn't it?" Apollo asked, basically shocking everybody that he was showing signs of possessing a brain.

It was Athena that answered, "Yes it is, so whatever happened would have been done either at this meeting or sometime soon after. I wonder what it was..."

At this she looked to the futures, who seemed to be avoiding everybodies gaze, although she did notice a few of them glance at Luke. It was clear that they knew, and from the looks they gave Luke, Athena was willing to bet he was involved.

Luke was also avoiding anybodies gaze. He had noticed the look the futures gave him when they arrived and the ones they were shooting him now. That's when it hit him. He did it. He actually stole the Bolt, he helped him rise. The thought made him proud, he did it, he struck back. Then he remembered how Percy claimed to have defeated Kronos, and he realized that he had lost. Then he started to panic at the thought that one of them might spill his involvement with Kronos, but had to hide it to avoid suspicion.

Hestia then requested that they continue reading, for as she said, "It's late enough and I want to get the kids to bed sometime this century."

 **(Nobody else seemed... from a lady's purse,)**

"Lord Hermes, are you sure she is not yours?" Piper asked nervously, still not quite comfortable speaking to them.

All the Hermes children and Percy looked horrified at the thought.

Hermes himself gagged at the thought, before saying, "absolutely sure. For one thing, I would remember (gag from all the kids at that thought) and for another, my children wouldn't be trying, they would have already done it."

At the last part, all his kids looked proud and happy at the compliment, even Luke looked a little happier, despite his panic earlier.

 **(and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.)**

Both Grovers and Percy grumbled something that apparently only the three of them knew, because after a few seconds, they looked at each other and nodded like a decision had just been made.

Frankly, this scared some people. Hades had a bad feeling that this decision had something to do with him and/or his Fury.

 **(Grover and I sat... make it elsewhere.)**

"How'd that work for ya there Prissy?" Clarisse asked.

Percy was mature and stuck his tongue out before pulling Annabeth closer. He knew what was coming and he didn't like it, he also didn't want to deal with everyone else's reactions, especially his parents. He never did tell his mother exactly what happened, and it wouldn't have happened yet for his father.

 **("Detention?" Grover... I mean- I'm not a genius.")**

At this Athena looked at Sally, as if to say, "see, he says so himself."

Sally didn't notice, she was too busy whispering in Percy's ear. Only Annabeth heard was she said and was nodding along as if agreeing 100% with whatever Sally was saying.

 **(Grover didn't say...** **said, "Can I have your apple?")**

If anyone had been outside the throne room, they would have thought a bomb had gone off, everyone was laughing so hard. Both Grover's just sat there, their faces having far surpassed tomato red and going even darker. It took a good 20 minutes for everyone to calm down enough for them to keep reading, for at some point Annabeth called out something about hackey sack and apples, and those who knew the story went off again.

 **(I didn't have...** **him take it.)**

"Ummm, Percy? Were you feeling alright? Because I've never seen you not have an appetite." Annabeth questioned with a worried look on her face.

Percy was about to answer when Thalia spoke up, "You should have seen him after the... er, Maine fiasco. I had to force him to eat from the moment we got back to camp up until after the solstice meeting."

All the futures who had been there when they got back from Maine nodded, they remembered that, they had been surprised that Thalia was still concerned enough to make him eat after the business by the creek after Capture the Flag.

The parents were just a little concerned, what happened in Maine and why was Thalia forcing him to eat? Athena had a bad feeling something happened to her daughter. That was the only thing she could think of for her daughter (as much as she didn't like it) to not have been there when her boyfriend needed her.

Everyone who didn't know what they were talking about by "Maine fiasco" figured it would do no good to ask, they would probably find out, and they did want to get this chapter over so they could eat and go to bed.

 **(I watched the...** **look she'd give me.)**

Sally looked proud of this statement. Paul looked like, "Well, duh. Sally being disappointed is the end of the world." Percy looked embarrassed at his private thoughts being read for everyone to hear. That is, he looked embarrassed until...

"Mama's boy!" Ares coughed out. He officially earned himself a death glare from both Percy and Hera.

Percy then said, "and proud of it."

Hera started wishing that she had that kind of relationship with her sons, they never respected her or listened to anything she said, ever.

 **(Mr. Brunner parked...** **motorized cafe table.)**

At the description of the chair, Leo started bouncing in his seat, eager to get his hands on it and take it apart, either that or to go make one himself, just... new and improved, Leo style. Hephaestus noticed his son's excitement and smiled. Maybe he should show him around the shop sometime. Beckendorf also looked at Leo, looks like him and his newest brother would get along perfectly.

 **(I was about to...** **lunch in Grover's lap.)**

"That sounds disgusting." both Clarisse's said in unison, shocking everybody there. It wasn't so much that they said in unison, as much as that Clarisse La Rue found something disgusting.

 **("Oops." She...** **with liquid Cheetos.)**

"Oh dear, I don't think there is anything I can do for her." Aphrodite said faintly, now that the others looked at her, she looked a little green.

 **(I tried to stay cool...** **A wave roared in my ears.)**

At this, all the Sea people perked up, eager to hear what this boy could do. Poseidon already had an idea after watching his son grow up as best he could, but he still enjoyed hearing about his abilities, not that he ever consciously used them. Amphitrite and Triton were just interested to hear about whether this boy would be worth their trouble. As much as they didn't want to admit it, the boy was starting to grow on them.

 **(I don't remember... "Percy pushed me!")**

The Sea people's curiosity was growing, while Percy and Grover started smirking, and people weren't really sure if they should be cheering for whatever happened or concerned for Nancy's sanity after Percy was done with her.

 **(Mrs. Dodds materialized...** **it grabbed her-")**

The Sea people started laughing at this, people were shocked to see Triton and Amphitrite, when they finally calmed down they refused to tell what they had found so funny.

They had just been laughing at the fact that the water responded in such a way. Percy truly was powerful. Percy just grinned at them, glad that Triton and Amphitrite were being friendly, they were definitely more open now then they were last time he saw them just after the war.

 **(I didn't know... in trouble again.)**

Sally and Percy both grumbled something about manhunts and innocence. The futures just looked at Sally in sympathy.

Percy got no sympathy, ok, maybe a little, but he was the one always being hunted for while poor Sally sat at home worrying.

 **(As soon as Mrs. Dodds... "Now, honey-")**

Shudders were seen from those who have ever held a conversation with her.

 **("I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks.")**

All the Hermes kids, Hermes, and Apollo groaned, and Percy had to cut them off by saying that he knew now.

 **(That wasn't the right thing to say.)**

Percy wisely ignored the pointed looks sent his way.

 **("Come with me...** **scared Grover to death.)**

"For good reason," Grover, Nico, and Percy all muttered. This, of course made the parents in the room freak out a little. Just how many times did this kid run into Furies? Nico they could understand, but Percy and Grover were not children of the Underworld. They should have never even met her once, let alone who knows how many times after she was done being a math teacher.

 **(She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.)**

Both Stoll sets looked at each other, but before they could say, do, sign, or think about anything, Katie cut in, "Don't even think about it you four."

The look she gave them made her mother proud and Hades cowered a little, thinking of how much that look copied Demeter's when she was on another rant about how he stole her precious daughter.

The Stolls pouted and were about to complain, but were cut off by Athena reading. By now, she was very annoyed by all the interruptions and wanted to get it done with.

 **("I don't think so...** **"Thanks for trying.")**

Percy and Grover grinned at each other, thinking of all the times over the years they had each others backs.

Grover's grin faded a little when he remembered where Percy was in their time, and how he couldn't help this time. He had finally managed to break through whatever was blocking their empathy link, but from all appearances when Percy first appeared in the throne room, he was also starting another quest. Without him.

Sure, if anybody knew just how well he could handle himself it was him and Annabeth, but...

Percy noticed the look on his face change, grinned,and said, "Hey, don't worry man, I'll come back. You honestly think I would let something happen to me out there? Annabeth would kill me!"

"I don't suppose there is any way you will sit this one quest out? For us?" Grover asked tentatively, sure this was Percy he was talking to, and he knew that. But he also knew Percy would do almost anything his friends asked of him if he had a say in it.

Percy sighed, "'Fraid not man, my presence on this one is ordered by Mars, and as much as I hate following his orders... besides, Juno promised me my memories back if I behaved."

If looks could kill, both Ares and Hera would have been fried by the future Greeks, none of which appreciated their Percy being sent on a Roman quest with his memories being dangled in front of him like bait.

Needless to say, Poseidon and Sally were not happy either.

 **("Honey," Mrs...** **Bobofit smirked.)**

Demigods and gods alike could be heard plotting her demise, slowly and painfully in some cases. Those who planned the slowly and painfully were having people edge away from them, slowly.

 **(I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare**.)

All those who have ever been on the receiving end of that stare shuddered and closed their eyes as if to block painful memories. Percy noticed this and smirked.

Then he remembered what happened next and pulled Annabeth closer, if she was worried by this she didn't say a word. She couldn't deny that she was enjoying being held, even if she was a little concerned about what was about to happen.

 **(Then I turned to... How'd she get there so fast?)**

What little light atmosphere was in the room disappeared, all of them on edge waiting for what happened next. They already knew she was a Fury, either they guessed before Percy spoke up or Percy told them.

Jason was just thinking about how somebody was going to come save Percy, and then later they would hear him telling everyone about how he single-handedly defeated a Fury.

 **(I have moments like... misinterpreting things.)**

Athena and _Annabeth_ looked at him like he had two heads or something. Percy noticed their looks and said, "Yeah, yeah, I know." He sounded very annoyed as he said this, many people noted.

 **(I wasn't so sure.)**

Percy gave Athena and _Annabeth_ a pointed look that they just as pointedly ignored.

 **(I went after Mrs...** **absorbed in his novel.)**

Many people groaned, and Chiron had the decency to look ashamed.

Poseidon and Sally, on the other hand, looked slightly murderous, and Sally was to be heard muttering some very unflattering things towards centaurs that made Percy's jaw hit the floor as he stared at her in shock.

Those who hadn't caught exactly what she said just used their imaginations, decided that they didn't want to know.

 **(I looked back up...** **at the gift shop.)**

"Before anybody comments on anything else, can I please just point out that I was 12, with no idea that any of this," as he gestures around the throne room, "was real? So can we please get through this next part?"

 **(But apparently that...** **Greek and Roman section.)**

Everybody started sitting on the edge of their seats, wondering what was going to happen. The Greeks were trying to remember if Percy had ever mentioned anything like this before, but couldn't recall.

Percy was holding Annabeth, trying to avoid the reactions of his parents. Poseidon and Sally at this point couldn't decide whether to start panicking, glaring at Hades, or being mad (in Sally's case) at Percy for never having mentioned this before. Poseidon settled for alternating between glaring at Hades and looking at Percy for reassurance that he was here, he was all right.

 **(Except for us, the...** **mad. It was evil.)**

The tension in the room was so thick by this point, not even Percy's random humor could help ease it.

 **(She's a teacher...** **shook the building.)**

Here a few people in the room glared at Zeus.

 **("We are not... will suffer less pain.")**

'Confess to what?' was running through the minds of all who did not already know.

Luke was just wondering if Percy was being blamed for stealing the lightning bolt that he had been ordered to steal.

 **(I didn't know...** **make me read the book.)**

Despite the tension, the Stolls looked like Christmas had come early, (technically this is just before Christmas) while Sally just sighed.

Athena also looked murderous, until _Annabeth_ looked at her and just said, "Dyslexia."

 **("Well?" she demanded...** **to slice me to ribbons.)**

Jason was getting impatient waiting for somebody to come and save Percy already, there was just no way this weak idiot defeated a Fury with zero training.

Poseidon was starting to hyperventilate so bad, Triton and Percy ended up wrapping him in a salt-water cocoon. They didn't mean to work together on it, but oh well, it just served to make the cocoon stronger and showed Triton and Amphitrite more of his power.

 **(Then things got even stranger.**

"Wait, what? How?" was heard from around the room.

 **(Mr. Brunner, who'd... a pen in his hand.)**

"Oh, that's how. I get it now."

Jason just thought, "What's a pen supposed to do? Stupid weakling."

 **("What ho... through the air.)**

Jason snorted, thoughts of somebody else coming to save Percy being replaced by thoughts of him running away or Chiron taking care of the Fury himself, but then what was up with the pen?!

Those who knew that pen smirked.

 **(Mrs. Dodds lunged at me...** **on tournament day.)**

Those who didn't know of the pen were shocked, Zoe's eyes narrowed, that sword sounded familiar...

Percy noticed this and sighed, knowing he would have to talk to her later about Hercules or something.

Jason caught himself thinking about how cool that sword sounded, before he reminded himself that its in Percy's hands. Somebody was going to come any minute now, they were going to save him.

 **(Mrs. Dodds spun...** **dropped the sword.)**

Ares and Jason were both thinking, 'Wimp!' but were too afraid of Sally to say it.

 **(She snarled, "Die honey!")**

The Stolls burst out laughing, despite the situation. At everyone else's looks, they quickly asked if anyone else got the image of a Fury attacking honey.

Now that everyone else understood, it took a while before everybody calmed down. Perhaps it was the tense atmosphere, but the laughter was a little hysterical.

When they finally continued, it was with a lighter mood.

 **(And she flew straight at me.)**

Just like that, the light mood was gone.

 **(Absolute terror ran... swung the sword.)**

While the younger demigods and gods questioned the _naturalness_ of swinging a sword, the futures were smirking, as if to say, "and that's how we do things in Percy World."

Jason was still clinging to the diminishing hope that somebody was going to come, there was no way this idiot could possibly defeat a Fury on his own, with no training whatsoever.

 **(The metal blade... of water.** _ **Hisss!)**_

Everyone stared at Percy in shock, while his parents were finally starting to relax, he had done it, she was gone, he was safe.

They would talk to him about this later though. Right now they wanted to finish this chapter and go to bed.

The futures, on the other hand, while they weren't surprised, were a little hurt that he had never told them about this.

Jason was staring at Percy like he had suddenly sprouted antlers. Now that he was forced to admit he had indeed defeated a Fury, he was expecting Percy to start bragging it up, but that didn't happen. Instead, Percy was HIDING from everybodies gaze behind Annabeth.

The Romans were shocked, yeah, they knew he was powerful, he had proven that last night at the war games, those water cannons exploding was awesome, and his totally un-Roman fighting style was a sight to behold, but they had never imagined, THIS!

Finally, Athena had mercy on the boy and kept reading, tearing everyone's attention away from Percy.

 **(Mrs. Dodds was a... still watching me.)**

Everyone but the Underworlder's shuddered, while the three just studied Percy curiously.

 **(I was alone...** **mushrooms or something.)**

Hera raised an eyebrow as she remarked, "Wow, Chiron, I think you overdid it with the Mist."

This comment earned Chiron a glare from Percy's area.

 **(Had I imagined the whole thing?)**

"Ok, my imagination is weird, but not that weird." Percy defended when everyone looked at him funny.

 **(I went back outside...** **whipped your butt.")**

"Woah, woah, woah, hold it. Chiron, are you telling me that you found a teacher to replace Mrs. Dodds in less then maybe 10 minutes?!" Apollo was a little freaked at how sneaky the old horse could be.

Chiron chuckled and told him that Mrs. Kerr was the name of the daughter of Athena he had standing by just in case they needed a replacement. She was an older girl who had just graduated college. All the gods oh'd and Athena puffed herself up proudly.

 **(I said, "Who?"**

 **"Our** _ **teacher**_ **. Duh!")**

Nico laughed, "yeah, Percy! Duh! How you could you forget who your math teacher was?" He asked.

"Well, Nico." Percy played along. "I'm afraid that, despite my nearly perfect memory," all the futures snorted at this, "there are just somethings I don't want to remember." He finished all this very dramatically.

 **(I blinked. We...** **and turned away.)**

All the demigods started grumbling murderously, and a few gods started thinking about cursing her

 **(I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. He said, "Who?")**

Percy turned to _Grover_ with a longsuffering look on his face, then he told him very bluntly that he couldn't lie to save his life, but not to worry, he learns.

All the past demigods and gods pale as they wonder what could have happened to make this satyr learn to lie for his life.

Grover just shuddered as he remembered that cave, he was really glad he was out of there.

 **(But he paused... messing with me.)**

Percy looked at him with a look that clearly said, see?

 **("Not funny, man,...** **Thunder boomed overhead.)**

All the futures glanced at Zeus like, "really?"

 **(I saw Mr...** **the future, Mr. Jackson.")**

At this Percy took out his pen and shouted, "My pen! You can't have it!"

His antics put nearly all the demigods on the floor laughing, while the more mature gods were fighting not to do the same.

The only ones not amused were Jason and Athena. Just because they really didn't like Percy.

 **(I handed Mr...** **me blankly. "Who?")**

Percy turned and glared at Chiron, telling him, "Not cool, man. Not cool. I thought I was going nuts."

 **("The other chaperone...** **Are you feeling alright?")**

Percy glared at Chiron again, who had the decency to look sheepish.

Hestia glanced at time again, declared a short snack, then bed. Those who complained that they weren't tired (Hermes, Apollo, Ares, and the younger demigods) got treated to that glare that only mothers can pull off.

She made food appear, and it was gone on minutes, not surprisingly, Thalia, Percy, and Nico ate the most, being three of the most powerful demigods in the room and the biggest eaters. After Zeus declared breakfast at 10 and reading to resume at 10:30, it was really that late, Hestia flashed the demigods to their rooms.

* * *

Well, this chapter took forever. I'll bring some people in next reading chapter.


	3. Bedtime

New chapter! Ok, so no new people this chapter, just some random stuff, but enjoy it anyway!

* * *

While the younger demigods went to bed, the futures stayed up a while longer and talked. Mostly it was the Greeks asking what had happened to Percy the past 8 months. So he told them. He woke up a couple months ago in the Wolf House, was trained by Lupa, and made his was to Camp Jupiter. He was going to avoid details because he didn't want Annabeth to worry, but then Frank had to open his big mouth and mention the gorgons.

He could really kill Frank right now.

* * *

Percy's POV

Annabeth freaked a little, ok, I know she worried what with me just disappearing for 8 months and all that, but she knows I can take care of myself.

I sighed and glared at Frank, who just looked back at me innocently.

Huh.

Didn't know the guy had it in him, of course, its not like I've known him for very long, still.

I sighed again and turned to face Annabeth, dimly hearing everyone else snickering in the background. They all knew that look, it was the look that said, "Perseus Jackson, tell me what happened now."

It didn't help any that she was fingering her knife like she was debating using it if I didn't tell her. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. It's happened and it wasn't fun. Will in particular found it hilarious though, which I found to be... out of character for the healer.

I sighed and told my CHB friends all about how I got to Camp Jupiter, from when I left the Wolf House, to meeting the Gorgons in Bargain Mart, to the sea-snake somewhere in California, to then being chased by the Gorgons all the way to camp.

When I mentioned the rash of car thefts I left behind me, the Stolls started crying about how their "little boy was all grown up."

Needless to say, Annabeth was not happy about that comment.

When I got around to the part where I carried Juno into camp, purposefully leaving out my sledding idea, Annabeth was soooooo not happy. She already hated Hera BEFORE this whole mess of Hera kidnapping me. Now...

Frank and Hazel picked up the story after I told how I crossed the road, telling about how Hazel held them off and collapsed the tunnel while me and Frank ran for the river, when Frank told of how he was caught at the river, but I saved him by controlling the river, he sounded so amazed that the Greeks laughed.

"Frank, controlling water is a Poseidon thing, you get used to it after a while. But, I guarantee it that everyone at Camp Half-Blood looked and sounded exactly the same when Percy first showed us his powers the day he arrived." Annabeth explained when he looked confused.

When she was done speaking, all of us who had been there for the bathroom incident cracked up, well, except for Clarisse.

"You know, I think that's the last time Clarisse tried to initiate newbies..." Connor said thoughtfully, then we started cracking up over the Romans confused looks. I figured they thought we were losing what little of our minds we had left.

Clarisse just scowled at us, oops, I guess she's still not over that. All these years later too... I guess holding grudges isn't just a Hades thing.

Speaking of Hades... "Oh, I forgot to tell you guys, I'm free of the Curse."

I think I heard crickets, if, you know, there had been crickets in the room.

Their reactions were priceless though. While the Romans freaked out a little, demanding to know what curse, the Greeks were celebrating. None of them had been very happy when I told them about my latest Underworld trip, so they were all happy I was free of that dumb thing. Apparently I freaked them out when I collapsed from exhaustion after the Battle of Manhattan.

Can you blame me though? The dumb curse made everything harder. Trust me when I say, invincibility is overrated.

Finally, Annabeth got the others quiet enough to ask me how.

I grinned, "Since its a Greek "blessing," and I was entering Roman territory, the Little Tiber washed it away."

Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, probably to question how the Achilles Curse was a blessing, when my mom came over and shooed us all to bed. I didn't want to go, but she promised no blue cookies in the morning if I didn't go. I was the first one to bed, and I heard the other Greeks laughing about that fact as they walked to their own rooms. I don't care though, I mean, mom's cookies! They know exactly how amazing they are so I don't even want to hear it from them.

Meanwhile, with the gods...

* * *

The gods had all drifted to their own areas of the Palace, some of them may have their own palaces elsewhere, like Poseidon and Hades, but they all had rooms in the Zeus's palace just in case they needed to stay over for something.

When Poseidon, Amphitrite, and Triton got to their rooms, Poseidon tried to get away from the talk he was sure was coming, but didn't move fast enough.

Amphitrite grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the couch, then her and Triton stood in front of him, watching and waiting for him to crack under the pressure of an "angry" wife and annoyed son.

She wasn't really angry, not anymore. She had been watching Sally, saw how the mortal interacted with her son and the other demigods, saw the looks Percy gave her; it was quite clear to her how she had caught Poseidon's eye and honestly, she didn't blame him. She just wanted him to think she was still angry. Call it the wife's prerogative.

Triton, on the other hand, yeah, he was kinda annoyed that his father had cheated on Mother, again, thought Percy was a pretty cool guy. Everyone from the future certainly seemed to look up to him, even the Romans. And Rome never liked his father, in fact, he would have to say they tolerated him slightly better than they did Minerva. And to say they didn't like her was the understatement of the century. Only that Jupiter kid seemed to not like Percy. That's probably just a 'son the King of the gods' thing though.

Finally, Poseidon couldn't stand the two of them standing there staring at him and nervously demanded Amphitrite to say something.

"You know, I was angry, I'm still annoyed by this all, but... I think I can kind of understand how you were attracted to this mortal. That doesn't mean I'm happy about it, and if you ever do this again you are dead, but..." Amphitrite trailed off. Poseidon just stared at her. She... understood? He wasn't expecting that, he was expecting a lecture and shouting, not... understanding. It didn't surprise him that she wasn't happy, but he was not expecting her to say she understood. Nervously he looked at his oldest son.

Triton caught his look and said, "I think Percy is pretty cool, of course, I'm not too happy either that you cheated on Mother again, but I like him. He seems like a cool little bro."

Poseidon was floored. They weren't nearly as angry as he thought they would be, they were way too understanding.

But, isn't this what he wanted for Percy? For his immortal family to accept him? Poseidon never expected them to like him of course, he was the product of two broken oaths, the oath to never have children again and his marriage oaths... ok yeah, maybe being with Sally wasn't using his best judgement. But, they were understanding! This was more than he could have ever imagined. Maybe this whole reading thing wouldn't be so bad after all.

He didn't let any of his excitement show through though, instead he just grinned and suggested they all go to bed.

Hera and Zeus...

Hera didn't speak to Zeus all night, while she was starting to maybe, kinda, warm up to and start to like her step-children, she had an image to uphold. She was the goddess of marriage, and the man she was MARRIED to, couldn't keep his MARRIAGE vows for nothing. Not to mention the oath to not have more demigod children after WWII. On principle, she didn't like demigod children, especially demigod children of her husband. So, while on the inside, she liked these children, she couldn't show it, although it did irk her to no end that both of them had the same mother, I mean, come on! She didn't care that one was Greek and the other Roman, that was a technicality, and nobody cared for technicalities anymore.

Zeus just took his wife's silence in stride, he knew he should probably say something, but let's face it. This was his wife he was talking about. He may be the king, but the saying 'don't poke the sleeping tiger' was very accurate, it didn't matter who you were. He was just glad he would have hearing when he woke up, that woman could yell.

Hades and Persephone...

Persephone didn't really care that Nico and Hazel were there, after all, those two were born back during WWII, they weren't new. A fact that she knew the other Olympians would be very surprised at, is that her husband is the only one to have kept that blasted oath, especially since he never wanted to make it himself. Besides, while she may not appreciate that those two were born because of her husband cheating, she had to admit that those two were probably her favorite of all her husband's demigod children.

Hades was still trying to understand what events happened for Hazel and Nico to be there. Nico, he could understand, he was just in the Casino with his sister. Speaking of his Bianca, wonder why she isn't here... hmmm. He'll ask Nico later. No, what surprised him was Hazel's presence. After all, the girl is dead. Now, if it weren't for the fact that the Romans and his nephew all knew her, he would assume that the Fates had brought her here from the Underworld, but they all know her as if she were alive. What could have possibly happened?

Not that he's complaining about his daughter being alive, he's definitely not. But there are rules, laws older than he is governing life and death. The fact that she was alive again made him fear for the future.

* * *

By the time 10 o'clock rolled around, all the demigods were up except for the older Greeks. Even Leo and Piper were up. The Romans were up earlier despite the fact that they were up just as late due to their training. They trained themselves to rise at 8 o'clock sharp everyday regardless of what time they went to sleep.

For those futures who had a younger counterpart present, said younger counterpart was given the task of waking up their older selves. This was done under the assumption that nobody knows you better than yourself.

Sadly, they were all shocked at the revelation of just how heavy of a sleeper these futures were. Nothing anybody did could get them up.

Sally watched the attempts at waking the demigods up with an amused smile on her face. Finally she took pity on the kids and told them to step aside and be ready to duck, she knew how to get them up. To everybodies shock except Paul's, she walked to the center of the room and yelled, "GET UP NOW OR NO COOKIES FOR YOU!"

All them shot out of bed, wide awake, as if they hadn't been the world's heaviest sleepers seconds earlier. Everyone was shocked, especially when they all ran to the kitchens without bothering to get dressed, only for Sally to call after them that she had them on her.

Several of them pulled a 180 so fast that they fell over in their haste for cookies. Percy was the first to reach her, he grabbed the bag (leaving the younger demigods to wonder how long she had been holding that) and ran off with the other future Greeks in hot pursuit, all of them yelling something like, "Give me cookies or give me death!" Those left behind just turned and stared at Sally, wondering what just happened. In response Paul handed her another bag of cookies and she passed them out.

Those cookies were AMAZING, no wonder the futures were acting so weird at the mention of them.

When 10:30 rolled around, the future Greeks showed back up, laughing and joking about something called the Great Cookies War of Camp Half-Blood.

Percy saw his mom and gave her a thumbs-up, telling her, "excellent as always mom, next time make more though." She just grinned and winked at the younger kids.

It wasn't long before everybody was settled and ready to read, but before they could, two more readers appeared. A boy, and a hellhound.

* * *

Just a warning now, I leave for college later today. I can't really say tomorrow because it's almost 2 in the morning, but oh well.

Anyway, I will try to keep updates somewhat consistent from here on, no promises on that fact, I do promise that there will be updates, I'm not forgetting about this just because I start college.


	4. Chapter 4

sadly, my ownership of the Percy Jackson series has not changed. I still do not own it.

* * *

 _It wasn't long before everyone was settled and ready to read, but before they could, two more readers appeared. A boy, and a hellhound._

Everyone went still at the sight of the hellhound, until the silence was broken by Percy shouting, "Mrs. O'Leary! Hey girl, come here!" The dog woofed and bounded towards Percy, which the futures saw and immediately went to work on making sure none of the others in the room, the ones who didn't know Mrs. O'Leary was a tame hellhound and Percy's pet, didn't kill her. That would be bad.

Mrs. O'Leary bounded up to Percy and greeted him very enthusiastically, unfortunately for him though, Hellhound saliva wasn't affected by his water powers. The others stopped trying to get around the futures and watched this greeting with dumbfounded looks on their faces.

The boy who showed up with the hellhound momentarily forgotten by all except Sally, who wasn't concerned with the hellhound, having met her before. And judging by her sons saliva covered state, she was glad the dog hadn't noticed her yet... She decided to explain what was going on to the poor boy while everyone else was distracted by the dog, save time that way. Besides, he looked scared to death.

It was Poseidon who broke the shocked silence first, "Ummm, Percy, care to explain the Hellhound?" Everyone else who didn't know the story nodded mutely.

"Well guys, this is Mrs. O'Leary, my pet hellhound." Percy said, most of them wanted to strangle him for stating something they could clearly see, but Percy rescued himself when he continued, "How I got her is a long story," here he looked sad, as though remembering someone, "I inherited her from a... friend of mine," here he looked at Annabeth, "when he died, she's the world's only friendly hellhound. That I know of anyway." He added on the last part almost as an after-thought, looking at Hades as he said it.

"On that note, we would appreciate it if all of you DID NOT kill her. Please and thank you!" Annabeth piped in, startling the past people, who were a little shocked to realize that all the futures were now greeting the Hellhound as if she were just your regular, everyday dog, and not a monster whose nature was to kill them.

"Sooo, now that my dog is safe from impalement, didn't I see somebody else with her?" Percy reminded.

'Oh yeah,' everyone thought as they turned to where Sally was quietly talking to a very young looking Percy Jackson. Percy took one look at him and cursed softly under his breath. The kid was wearing jeans and a jacket. Which meant he was home from school for break and he just had a "lesson" with Gabe. Great, perfect. That was the last thing he wanted anybody to know about.

Annabeth heard him cursing and looked at him questioningly, what was wrong with his younger self being there? The rest of them all had a younger counterpart, and they were all fine, unless... she remembered what little Percy had told her of his old step-father, Gabe. From what little had been said, Percy hated the guy. For that matter, she hated him too. From what she had seen of him during his TV interviews on the first quest, the guy was a pig and world-class jerk.

Maybe his reaction had something to do with Gabe? She knew there was something about that man that Percy didn't want known, maybe he was scared that whatever it was would come to light with _Percy's_ presence. Wait, what? Ugh, she hated time-travel, it was so confusing!

Sally heard the conversation about Mrs. O'Leary stop and looked up to find everyone watching. She smiled and explained how she had already explained to _Percy_ what was going on. Everybody just needed to introduce themselves. She also added that this _Percy_ was 8.

So everybody introduced themselves, when it was Paul's turn, he introduced himself as _Percy's_ new step-father. The boy looked shocked and yelled, "no more Smelly Gabe?!" really excited. Paul just chuckled and said, "no more Smelly Gabe." He wondered at that reaction though, he knew Sally's ex-husband's name was Gabe and Sally only married him because he smelled bad enough to cover up Percy's demigod scent, but other than that, he knew nothing of the guy. Whenever he asked Sally would just say that it was unimportant.

Both Annabeth's and Athena were the only ones to notice Sally and Percy flinch when Gabe was mentioned. Which of course sent Annabeth's mind racing. She took what little she knew of him, which was all bad, and combined it with the new information that apparently Sally and Percy were still afraid of him years after his death. Her conclusions were not pretty.

Grover knew something had happened with Gabe, besides the obvious that he was a jerk. Whenever he was mentioned, Percy would close off his emotions. He was hard enough to read at any normal time, even with the Empathy link. Must be the sea... anyway, anything that could make Percy close himeself off like that couldn't be good.

The introductions continued, with Poseidon nervously introducing himself as the boys father. _Percy_ took one look at him, and raced to give him a hug. His mother may have explained what was happening, but all he knew was that this man claimed to be his father, and his father could make Smelly Gabe go away. Besides, if this was his future and he got to know his father now, then when he went back he could just go find his father again...

Once the introductions were over, Triton monopolized _Percy_ , saying that he claimed older brother rights in getting to know his little bro first. He had also noticed the older Jackson's reactions to Gabe and went into full big brother mode.

Once everyone settled back down, with Percy and Annabeth leaning against Mrs. O'Leary, Zeus threw the book at Poseidon and told him to read.

 **Chapter two, Three old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death**

He paused, already feeling like something bad was going to happen.

Percy paled and glanced at Annabeth nervously, he never told her about this. Quickly, he leaned over and whispered something in her ear. At first she looked terrified, then worried and confused, then mournful. Percy saw her face, sighed, and pulled her onto his lap, holding her close and whispering something else in her ear.

 _Percy_ and _Annabeth_ watched this exchange, looked at each other, and looked away again just as quick, both blushing. Piper, Aphrodite, Athena and Poseidon noticed this.

Aphrodite and Piper were, uh, Aphroditeing out, and Athena and Poseidon looked at each other and realized that they needed to speak with their children about this. While Poseidon had absolutely no problem with those two being together, Athena sure did have a problem with it.

 **(I was used to... were over quickly.)**

"What happened this time?" _Percy_ asked his older self. The others were a little shocked that he was so casual about it, just what had happened to the kid in his 8 years of life?

Percy grinned, and told him all about Mrs. Dodds.

 _Percy_ nodded and turned to Sally, saying, "I told you math teachers were evil!"

Everyone chuckled. Yup, this was Percy Jackson alright.

Poseidon had to shake himself out of his shock, he thought he had a pretty good idea of what his son went through. He did watch the boy, guess he didn't watch him as well as he thought he did.

Even Sally was shocked. Just what had Percy not told her? Just how many teachers tried to kill him over the years?

 **(This twenty-four... some kind of trick on me.)**

"Don't even think about it." Percy warned all the Stolls and Leo.

He may have just met Leo, but he knew that look from dealing with the Stolls for so long.

 **(The students acted...** **at me like I was psycho.)**

Everyone, even _Percy_ just looked at him like, "you are psycho." For that matter, only Sally and Poseidon restrained themselves.

Jason had been starting to warm up to Percy, having not slept that well the night before and having a lot of time to think about everything he'd heard yesterday before, and started to worry after he heard Percy call himself psycho.

Percy looked at _Percy_ and grumbled something about traitors that only Annabeth heard, she laughed and kissed him on the nose, causing the younger pair to blush and look away. All while wondering how this happened.

For _Annabeth,_ she was trying to figure out how she could be acting this way around the son of her mothers rival, _Percy_ was just trying to figure out how a guy like him got a girl like that.

Athena once again tried to ignore them, still hoping it's a bad dream, while still resolving to talk to them later, while Poseidon smiled and decided that he didn't care. As long as she didn't hurt his son. It sounded to him like his son had enough problems in his life.

 **(It got so I... never existed.)**

At the almost, all the futures and even some of those from the past turned to stare at both Grover's, having a pretty good idea of why Percy didn't believe them.

 **(Almost.)**

At this one, everyone now turned to stare at the poor goats.

 **(But Grover couldn't... But I knew he was lying.)**

At this, Clarisse chimed in, saying that it must be a goat thing, 'cause Hedge was the same way.

"Gleeson Hedge? The crazy guy?" Percy asked.

Jason, Leo, Piper, and Clarisse all agreed very loudly and empathetically. He was crazy alright.

 **(Something was...** **the museum.)**

Many looks of, "really? Ya think?" Were thrown Percy's way, which he dutifully ignored.

 **(I didn't have much... wake me up in a cold sweat.)**

All the demigods shuddered. Even _Percy_ and Rachel.

All the gods looked on in interest, with only Apollo being unsurprised by their reactions.

Were demigod dreams really this bad?

 **(The freak weather... in my dorm room.)**

Poseidon glared at Zeus. Percy noticed this, sighed, and said, "So dad, I know you don't like it, but Uncle had a good reason for being angry. Not that I'm ok with, uh, how he went about things, but, uh... you weren't entirely blameless either, but... Look, just, don't blow up everytime Zeus or Hades do something, uh, to me that you don't like, ok?"

The futures nodded, they knew what happened after all.

Luke just looked worried, he had a feeling he knew what Zeus's good reasons were. It sounds like they blamed Percy, which meant that Percy would have gone to investigate or something, which meant... he was going to be found out. CRAP.

The gods also looked worried. What could have possibly happened for this big a reaction from Zeus?

 **(A few days later... in the Atlantic that year.)**

Artemis slowly stated that it sounded like Zeus and Poseidon were fighting about something.

All the futures looked at her, then at each other almost like they were asking how much to reveal, before Percy looked back up and nodded.

All the gods paled at this. It sounded like they were really going at it. And when Zeus and Poseidon started going at it, EVERYONE needed to duck and cover.

 **(I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time.)**

Sally just sighed, while all the Sea people looked at each other. This kid had a very strong connection with the ocean if it could affect his moods like that.

Maybe they should bring him undersea for some special training, if there was really a war brewing he would need it.

 **(My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.)**

Athena would have opened her mouth, probably to go on a long rant on stupid sea-spawn demigods but Poseidon hurriedly and loudly kept reading.

 **(I got into more... almost every class.)**

All the demigods looked sympathetic. They had all had to deal with that one person in their schools. Well, back when they went to school in the mortal world.

 **(Finally, when our... I called him an old sot.)**

Giggling started to erupt from those who knew what it meant, as well as glances in Mr. D's direction

 **(** **I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.)**

The giggling turned into full blown laughter as everybody joined in. It got even harder to stop when Annabeth finally caved to Percy's pleading look and told him what it meant.

Now everybody was looking to Mr. D. And he was glaring right back.

 **(The headmaster sent... to Yancy Academy.)**

All three of the Jackson's glanced at each other and shrugged. Wasn't the first time, wouldn't be (in _Percy_ 's case), and wasn't (Sally and Percy) the last.

The other mother's in the room were a little shocked at Sally's reaction. Was this really that common? She couldn't really be ok with her son getting kicked out of school, or maybe she was just resigned to the fact that a demigod like Percy couldn't last long in school.

Oh well, guess she knows her son better than they do, they figured.

 **(Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

 **I was homesick.)**

Those who knew Sally smiled, of course. Even those who just met her were already jealous of Percy for having her.

 **(I wanted to be... his stupid poker parties.)**

Nico looked confused, "You throw poker parties, Paul? And I don't think you're obnoxious."

While all those from the past stared at him like he was nuts, all the future Greeks looked at him gratefully, they had all seen the Jacksons flinch at hearing about Gabe. They didn't know what happened with him, but they didn't want attention called to it until it had to be.

Sure, they wanted to know, but they also knew that discussing it would be the last thing Percy wanted to do right now.

Triton really wanted to help his little brother, both of them, but he didn't even know exactly what the problem was yet.

Nico's dumb comment just took the attention off them for a while longer.

Paul smiled, he knew what Nico was trying to do, and he went along with it, explaining as quickly as possible that this was Sally's ex.

 **(And yet... there... the smell of pine trees.)**

Thalia aww'd, making the futures who knew laugh, and everybody else kind of confused. That sounded like an inside joke more than just simple teasing.

Percy, however, went several shades of red, and dove into Annabeth's hair, muttering, "nope, nope, nope."

 **(I'd miss Grover,... next year without me.)**

"Well, ignore the strange part and I'll go with it." Grover said and grinned. He knew what Percy meant.

 **(I'd miss Latin class... that I could do well.)**

Chiron smiled, happy that Percy liked his class despite his obvious classroom problems.

Then again, he did try to make it as ADHD and demigod friendly as possible knowing there was a demigod in there.

 **(As exam week got... but I'd started to believe him.)**

All the demigods nodded in approval. 'Always listen the centaur, you might live longer,' was a common saying at CHB.

 **(The evening before...** **across my dorm room.)**

Poseidon started to read faster hoping to cut Athena off. Even both Annabeth's were glaring at Percy. Not that he really blamed them, Athena wouldn't shut up about it for weeks when her daughter wrote that book.

 **(Words had started... were riding skateboards.)**

At this, the Annabeth's stopped glaring and instead made various sounds of understanding.

Meanwhile, the other dyslexic demigods looked shocked that he had managed to put that into words.

 **(There was no way... Chiron and Charon,)**

Annabeth and Grover started laughing while Percy pouted beside them.

At first Nico looked very confused, but then a look of understanding passed his face as he asked, "he didn't? Tell me he didn't." And then all the Underworld people understood.

Although when he had to go to the Underworld and why was beyond them.

Annabeth couldn't speak for laughing too hard, so she just nodded.

Now all the Underworlders were cracking up, even Hades, to many people's confusion.

When they finally calmed down, Hades looked at Percy and said, "nephew, you have a death wish."

To which Percy grinned and leaned over to Hazel and Frank, whispering something in their ears that clearly amused them. In fact, all the Romans looked amused by Hades choice of words. The future Greeks just looked like, "yeah, what else is new?"

 **(or Polydictes and... Forget it.)**

"But you were doing just fine with them yesterday." Hazel said, slightly confused. Percy just shrugged, while the gods looked on. A Greek demigod should not be just fine with Latin.

 **(I paced the room... inside my shirt.)**

"And how do you know what that one feels like?" Chiron asked, wondering if he really wanted to know the answer to that.

In answer, all the futures just pointed to the Stolls, who had the decency to look scared for their lives that the others clearly weren't over THAT fiasco.

Everyone else just simply understood that if the demigods weren't telling, they didn't want to know.

 **(I remembered...** _ **you, Percy Jackson.)**_

"Hey, Perce, on the bright side, if he didn't push you so hard, we would all be dead." Nico said cheerfully.

Needless to say, some people slowly and carefully shifted away from him. They loved him, but that kid was just creepy sometimes.

Others in the room just looked at Percy in awe, making him shift uncomfortably.

 **(I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.)**

Sally, Paul, and Annabeth froze. Was he...?

 **(I'd never asked... I hadn't tried.)**

The jaws of Paul, Sally, and Annabeth hit the floor. As did Athena's and Thalia's.

The Hermes kids and Leo were all lamenting Percy's turn to the 'darkside'.

 **(I walked downstairs... stretching across the hallway floor.)**

Grover groaned, he had wondered just how much of this conversation Percy heard.

Everyone near him looked at him curiously, what was wrong?

 **(I was three steps"...worried about Percy, sir.")**

"Ugh, you would hear the whole conversation except for five words!" Grover groaned out. He sighed, "No wonder you were so curious on the bus."

Everyone now understood what the problem was. This would have been one conversation Percy wasn't supposed to hear, and he did.

 **(I froze.)**

Sally and many of the other mothers in the room looked reprimanding.

The Percy's saw this and gulped. Luckily for Percy, he had Annabeth to hide behind, although she wasn't exactly the best shield, she kept moving. _Percy_ ended up diving behind Triton.

Poseidon finally took pity on his sons and kept reading.

 **(I'm not usually... about you to an adult.)**

All the demigods nodded in agreement. They've all been there, done that.

The mothers looked at each other in exasperation. Kids. What was worse is that it looked like it would be useless to lecture them, especially when they all had to admit that eavesdropping may have saved their lives at some point.

 **(I inched closer...** **and** _ **they**_ **know too-")**

"They?" asked _Percy._

"Monsters, gods, other enemies." Annabeth said casually.

"Annabeth!" Sally reprimanded.

Annabeth looked up, "Huh?" then she realized that it had been _Percy_ to ask that, not her Seaweed Brain. Woops. She was so used to answering Percy's dumb questions without thinking too much about it that it hadn't occurred to her to check which Percy was asking the question.

She was saved by Triton being a big brother and whispering something in his ear that calmed him down.

Poseidon looked very proud at that scene.

 **("We would only... to mature more.")**

The futures couldn't help it, the thought of a mature Percy was just too funny.

While Percy just sat there and sulked, muttering something about traitors under his breath, it took them a good twenty minutes to calm down, and that was with the ever patient Zeus firing lightning bolts over their heads to get their attention. He did not appreciate not having their undivided attention.

Even the Romans were too far gone to notice him, and they had a thing about showing gods the utmost respect.

 **("But he may... solstice deadline-")**

"Ok, first we have something happening on the winter solstice, which was yesterday before all of you showed up, then we have Zeus and Poseidon fighting since Christmas, and now we have a summer solstice deadline. WOULD ONE OF YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Athena did not like not knowing what was going on. Although if she would have just remembered the title of the book she would know...

Percy, for some reason, glanced at Luke, before telling her that they would just have to read and find out, if they just up and spoiled everything then that would defeat the purpose of them being there.

Everyone was silent, until, "I suppose that makes sense, but I still want to know what's going on here." She grumbled that last part so that nobody else heard her.

Everyone stared at Percy. Did a sea-spawn really just get Athena to see sense about something? He just grinned, happy that he had finally been able to one-up Athena.

Annabeth was just amused. He had finally done it, that had been one of his main goals for several years now.

 **("Will have to be... while he still can.")**

Percy spluttered for a bit before he could remember how to make words come out of his mouth, "IGNORANCE?! ENJOY IT?! Chiron you're crazy if you think I was enjoying thinking I had gone nuts!" He finally got it out.

Meantime, people were laughing at the sight of the Hero of Olympus literally speechless.

 **("Sir, he** _ **saw**_ **her..."** **to convince him of that.")**

Percy settled for glaring at the centaur this time, who had the decency to look ashamed.

 **("Sir, I... I can't fail in my duties again.")**

Thalia growled, Zeus glared.

 **(Grover's voice... would mean.")**

Thalia couldn't take it anymore, neither could Annabeth for that matter, Thalia was just Thalia. "YOU DIDN'T FAIL YOU STUPID GOAT! You got Luke and Annabeth to safety, it was MY. CHOICE!"

Both Grover's flinched. They had made Thalia angry, you did not make Thalia angry.

But then, Thalia did the unexpected, she pulled the both of them into a bear hug. Muttering something under her breath as she did so that only the Grover's could hear. Whatever it was, it cheered them up.

 **("You haven't failed, Grover,")**

Thalia pointedly looked at them, they both looked sheepish

 **(** **Mr. Brunner said... alive until next fall-")**

Grover and Annabeth sighed, they, better than most, knew just how big a job that was. Despite his skill and strength, he got into more deadly situations than they had ever thought possible.

Grover looked over at Frank and Hazel and told them, "Good luck."

They paled, wondering just what they were being thrown into. Frank had been ordered this quest, and he had been ordered to take Percy along. It had been a no-brainer for him to bring Hazel along too, now they were starting to wonder if they were going to survive being thrown into Percy's life.

Because if his best friend was wishing them luck on keeping him alive... and Grover didn't even know where they were going! It could just be down the road for a massive shopping expedition for all he knew!

 **(The mythology book... floor with a thud.)**

"NO!" All the Hermes crew screamed (that includes Apollo and Leo), making everybody not used to their antics jump a few feet in the air.

"Rule number 100, never give yourself away!" Luke said. Hey, he may be angry, and a traitor, but when it comes to mischief and trickery, he is still a son of Hermes.

Hazel was confused enough about the 'rule number 100' thing to ask Luke what he was talking about.

In response, he pulled out, 'Hermes rules for trickery and mischief' and threw it at her, telling her to read it.

It was pretty thick and heavy, so Percy took pity on her and intercepted it. When he handed it to her, she was shocked at how heavy it seemed. It hadn't seemed like it would be this heavy when Percy caught it so easily. And here she thought she was strong from all her Roman training.

The futures laughed when they saw her face after feeling how heavy it was and designated Clarisse to explaining.

"We get those books thrown at us a lot, that and we have our own, ah, special, weight training." She said. All the Greeks grinned evilly about the special training bit, but refused to elaborate, which kind of scared Chiron, he knew nothing about any special training. He was the activities director, he had to approve all training activities!

Suddenly, Clarisse grinned evilly. She turned to Percy and just said, "Prissy..."

He looked up and grinned too. "Tonight?" She nodded. The other futures looked excited, the Stolls started silently taking bets.

Not even Leo, Piper, or Jason knew what she was talking about, and they'd been at camp for a few months now. In fact, nobody had any clue what was going on except for those who were at CHB during the war.

Hazel was curious, so she looked in the back to see how many rules they had. Over 1000! And here she thought the Mercury kids were bad, at least they had Roman discipline.

 **(Mr. Brunner went silent...** **backed down the hall.)**

"Good! Rule number-" Luke was cut off by all the Greeks yelling, "We know! Rule number 101!"

To say they had the rule book memorized just through the sheer number of times a Hermes camper quoted it to them was an understatement, they could probably quote it in their sleep by now.

The Hermes crew were proud that the rest of the Greeks had it memorized, while the rest of the throne room were terrified.

 **(A shadow slid... an archer's bow.)**

Athena was miffed that Chiron of all people was out in the open like that, seemingly not caring about the need for secrecy. There was only so much the Mist could hide after all, and the last thing they needed if they were already dealing with Zeus and Poseidon, was a bunch of mortals panicking. "Chiron, why were you in the open like that?"

Chiron didn't know, this was the future for him, so he looked to Grover to answer.

Grover shrugged and said, "His legs were falling asleep, besides, all the students were supposed to either be asleep or studying." He turned to glare at Percy, who just shrugged innocently.

 **(I opened the...** **glass, then moved on.)**

"Woah, woah, woah! Are you seriously telling me that with your nose, you didn't smell him?!" To say Leo was a little mad about this was an understatement. The number of times Chiron stopped a prank or something just by smelling him nearby when he had said he would be in the Bunker...

Chiron looked thoughtful, "I believe that due to him living there for so long, his scent was all over the place, that and the fact that he had not been around his step-father for so long, that stench was wearing off, so he no longer smelled so, awful."

Leo still looked a little annoyed, but he accepted the explanation. Although he did have to wonder just how bad this Gabe guy smelled.

Again, only the futures, _Annabeth,_ Athena, and Triton noticed the Jackson's reaction to hearing about Gabe.

Just what had that man done to them? Now they really wanted to know, they couldn't help if they didn't know the problem.

Triton also started to notice that whenever he touched _Percy_ on the back, he flinched. Just barely, almost like he was trying not to, but it was there.

Mrs. O'Leary was also showing concern for her human, she nuzzled him when she felt him flinch that time. He was usually so strong, what was wrong with her human?

 **(A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.)**

Everyone waited for the moment where Percy was caught and everything was finally explained, thinking that Chiron and Grover would tell him what was going on, all of it.

 **(Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing,")**

Everybody groaned, he was so close to being caught and them getting their answers!

 **(he murmured... the winter solstice.")**

Athena grumbled about not getting the answers she wanted but thought it best not to say anything. They weren't going to tell her anyway, so why bother wasting time. She figured the quicker they read, the quicker she got her answers.

 **("Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn...")**

Grover sighed and finished his statement, "I felt Percy's messed up emotions."

Percy grinned. He liked it that he wasn't easy to read. Let him keep some secrets.

 _Grover_ nodded, Percy's emotions were crazy. He almost missed when Grover muttered that not even having an empathy link with the guy made it any easier.

He paled slightly. Those things were dangerous, and if Percy was really in as much danger all the time as everyone kept implying...

 **("Go back to... of exams tomorrow.")**

All the demigods groaned. Athena refrained herself from reprimanding them on the importance of exams by reminding herself of their ADHD and dyslexia. Those couldn't have made exams anything but a headache, especially if it really felt like the letters were doing 180's on skateboards.

She started going over and revising her plans from last night to make schooling easier for demigods. Although, maybe she should extend that to all ADHD and/or dyslexic children, afterall, not all of them were demigods.

 **("Don't remind me."...** **seemed like forever.)**

Percy muttered about stupid ADHD. All those who heard him that had ADHD agreed. In battle, it was very useful. In everyday life, not so much.

 **(Finally, I...** **he'd been there all night.)**

Percy muttered something unflattering about goats and sudden abilities to lie.

Grover just grinned, thank goodness he had been able to pull that lie off. Otherwise Percy would have found an opening to question him. Since Percy didn't want him knowing he had eavesdropped, he couldn't have asked ANYTHING unless Grover had made it obvious he had been up to something earlier.

 **("Hey," he... for this test?")**

"Ummm, when is anybody ever ready for a test?" Nico asked.

Everyone just nodded in agreement, even the Annabeth's. And her mother was Athena. She was naturally smart.

 **(I didn't answer...** **started getting ready for bed.)**

Athena couldn't take it anymore. "Please tell me that you now know that satyrs can read emotions."

Percy grinned, she finally realized that at this point in the book, he hadn't known any of this was real. He hadn't missed the looks she sent him whenever his "stupidity" was evident.

It was Grover that answered though, "Actually, Lady Athena, Percy's emotions are such a jumbled, crazy whirlwind that I can't read them. Even with an empathy link. In fact, no satyr can read him. Nobody knows why either."

Athena was trying to wrap her head around this concept, someone who couldn't be read?

Poseidon cleared his throat and said, "Actually, Grover, that might be my fault. The sea, you know. Doesn't like to contained, and it's always changing."

Suddenly so much of how Percy acted sometimes made so much more sense to everybody. And Grover was just glad that some of the mystery was cleared up.

It took a while for some of them to remember that Grover had also mentioned an empathy link, but before they could ask, Poseidon continued reading.

 **(I didn't understand... the whole thing.)**

Clarisse snorted, "Please, as much as I don't want to admit it, even you're not that crazy." Everyone who knew how their relationship worked was shocked.

But they also didn't know about the Chariot incident. And if either of them had any say in it, they never will. Which meant that the Fates were probably going to have it brought up at some point.

 **(But one thing was... some kind of danger.)**

Nico looked at Percy, and innocently asked when he wasn't. Nobody bought the innocent routine.

Percy knew he was asking in hopes that he could later convince Hazel to not go on this quest with him. He didn't really trust Percy with his sisters. Not that Percy blamed him, of course...

He pretended to think about it, then he answered, "When I'm with people I trust." He sounded casual enough, but Nico got the message, drop it.

 **(The next...-hour Latin exam,)**

"WHAT?!" All the demigods started glaring at Chiron mutinously.

 **(** **my eyes swimming... called me back inside.)**

"Oh this can't end well." Came from most of the demigods. They figured they knew what Chiron was up to, and it wouldn't end well.

Chiron wasn't exactly the best at cheering people up.

Chiron was just confused, what was wrong with him wanting to talk to Percy about leaving? For he was pretty sure that's what he wanted.

 **(For a moment,..** **. It's... it's for the best.")**

Everybody groaned.

"Oh boy."

"This is not going to end well."

"Chiron, we gotta teach you how to cheer somebody up, when's free Trav?"

"Put him down for Monday at 7 O'clock, Connor."

"You got it Bro."

All this and more was heard from the demigods, even the Romans.

Meanwhile, Mrs. O'Leary was growling at Chiron, she did not appreciate her human being talked down to like that. Percy smiled and scratched her head

Chiron was confused, (and a little worried, lessons with the Stolls were not going to end well, that and he just got on the bad side of a tame hellhound, those things were fiercely loyal) what was so bad about him wanting to cheer up a student?

 _Annabeth_ cleared up his confusion by pointing out that nobody wanted to hear that they weren't good enough for some place, that and if the room wasn't empty, the other students were going to make it even worse.

 **(His tone was kind... with her lips.)**

 _Annabeth_ gave Chiron a look, like "see?"

He looked away and muttered about having these conversations in private in the future.

 **(I mumbled, "Okay, sir..** **. It was only a matter of time.")**

Now everybody was starting to glare at the old horse.

Triton was holding _Percy_ about as close as the kid would let him while staring at Chiron, almost as if to protect him from Chiron's pep talk.

Poseidon noticed Triton's being a big brother and smiled. He loved it when his children all got along.

 **(My eyes stung...** **destined to get kicked out.)**

By this point, Sally started shaking in anger, she didn't move though, she could control herself. Besides, it wouldn't do much good considering for her this has already happened and for them it hasn't happened yet. Ugh, she hated time travel!

Chiron was feeling proud that Percy considered him to be his favorite teacher.

 **("Right," I said..** **. That's nothing to be-")**

"While it is a good thing that Percy is not normal, nobody likes hearing about it Chiron." Annabeth groaned.

Clarisse, Grover, and Percy snickered at her use of the word 'nobody', much to everybodies confusion.

 **("Thanks," I blurted...** **was already gone.)**

By about the middle of that whole exchange, Paul had to put his hand on Sally's shoulder, she was so angry he was scared she might fly at Chiron and attack.

She refrained herself only by reminding herself that Percy was capable of taking care of himself and didn't like her fighting his battles.

 **(On the last day... my suitcase.)**

Sally muttered, "and out comes the ironing board."

Which both Percy's heard and both scratched the backs of their heads sheepishly, which everyone was amused by.

 **(The other guys were...** **juvenile delinquents.)**

Sally sighed, she had always wanted to take Percy to those places, do those things with him, but... There was just never enough money, and the fact that they couldn't fly there, which only left a special favor from Poseidon, which could have drawn attention and only put Percy in more danger.

That and Gabe would have never let them go even if there was money. Oh, how she regretted marrying that man. She had to keep reminding herself that Percy was safe with him around. She was the only one being hit. At least, that's what she thought anyway.

 **(Their daddies were... of nobodies.)**

Annabeth smirked. "Nobody."

That alone was enough to send Clarisse, Grover, and Percy over the edge. They took a good 10 to 20 minutes to calm down, because every so often one of them would choke out something else like; mango chutney, or sheep meat, or some other such nonsense that none of them understood.

They were all starting to wonder just what these demigods got up to for them to have inside jokes this... strange. Although, if Clarisse was in on it... the other Futures had a feeling that it had something to do with how they got their hands on the Fleece.

Finally Percy leaned over to Annabeth and whispered something in her ear that made her blush and kiss him on the cheek.

Ok, Athena really needed to have a talk with her daughter.

While Clarisse and Grover didn't know what was said, they had a feeling they knew what it was.

 **(They asked me what I'd be doing this summer)**

'That was nice, for a bunch of _boys_.' Artemis and Zoe thought.

 **(and I told them...** **to school in the fall.)**

'Is that really what he did while I was work?' Sally thought. 'But I thought he said he hung out in the park or his room most of the time.' Out loud, she said, "Percy, you didn't have to do all that, we were never that bad off you know."

The Percy's just looked at each other and silently agreed to tell her later if the books didn't bring it up. If they did, then they would tell her sooner.

Percy was just tired of lying about it, while _Percy_ was just at the point of having to get

creative in how he covered it all up. How Percy had hid it for so long, he would never know.

Sally didn't miss the exchange, and wondered if she was really so blind that she had missed something that was obviously very large and she clearly had no clue.

 **("Oh," one of the...** **I'd never existed.)**

'Nevermind,' Both Artemis and Zoe were a little disgusted that these boys could be so dismissive, at least to another boy.

 **(The only person... into the city.)**

"Stalker alert!" Nico yelled! Everyone laughed, for two reasons.

One, because it was funny and very random.

Two, because now both Grover's were being held back from killing Nico.

 **(During the whole... something bad to happen.)**

"And now?" Percy asked innocently. Which, of course, everyone knows he's not.

"I no longer expect stuff to happen. I KNOW stuff will happen."

Nobody noticed Frank and Hazel paling, or the other Romans looking at them in sympathy. They felt like they had been thrown on the roller coaster that was Percy's life without being asked if it was ok with them, or telling them what the ride would entail.

Percy, meanwhile, patted Grover on the head and said, "Good boy. You are now ready for life."

It took a while for those not used to their antics to calm down. The futures just looked on, bored, this wasn't anything new.

 **(Before, I'd always... him on the Greyhound.)**

"Except for the person sitting beside him." Nico suggested innocently. The snickers only got louder when Percy answered him.

"Yeah, I guess except for the per- NICO! I was the one sitting by him!"

Snickers got louder when Percy starting chasing Nico around the room, a bucket of water in his hand. At least, they thought it was in a bucket, until they got a closer look at it and realized that it was a water blob shaped like a bucket, with no actual bucket.

When Percy finally caught up to him, he got soaked. With a whole lot more water than Percy originally had in his "bucket."

The Sea-folk were impressed. The boy had quite the control over his water powers. They didn't say anything though because then Zeus would just get his paranoid self all worked up, and then Hestia would have to make him sit back down and shut up, and that would just be too much to have to sit through.

Besides, Zeus was already looking at Percy suspiciously.

Nico looked to the Sea people to dry him off, but none of them would. They had a standing rule when it came to other people's work, see. Never undo somebodies rather impressive handiwork.

 **(Finally I couldn't...** **for Kindly Ones?")**

Grover looked indignant, "You gave me a heart attack!"

Percy just grinned innocently.

 **(Grover nearly...** **night before the exam.)**

All the Hermes crew groaned, "Rule number-"

"WE KNOW!"

 **(Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?")**

Grover remembered what Percy had told him, "Oh not much, yeah right." He was grumbling for a while.

 **("Oh... not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?")**

"Not much, just all of it." Clarisse said sarcastically.

 **(He winced. "Look... demon math teachers...")**

"Seriously, man? You were still trying that?" This time it was Jason. He was starting to see why everybody liked Percy so much. It was just taking a lot of time to sink in. That, and Thalia spoke to him last night after Sally chased them off to bed. Something about their fatal flaw being pride and power. She said to get a hold on it, because they don't call them "fatal" for nothing.

Annabeth and Nico looked thoughtful. Annabeth wondered out loud that that was where he got it from... leaving everybody else to either look concerned or confused.

 **("Grover-"** **"And I... person as Mrs. Dodds, and...")**

"Aww, come on, man! Just give it up, your covers been blown sky high!" Said the ever hyper Leo.

Both Grover's just turned very, very pink.

 **("Grover, you're a really, really bad liar.")**

Everybody nodded. Grover starting going to a very dark pink. Just a little more and he would be a strawberry red.

 **(His ears turned pink.)**

Grover now bypassed strawberries and threatened to become a color that not even Aphrodite could name. And she knew her colors, being the love goddess and all who obsessed over clothes.

 **(From his shirt...** **out something like:)**

"Dionysus." Zeus warned. He seemed to remember having a discussion with him about making the campers lives harder.

He looked up innocently. "What? Just because they can't read it doesn't mean anything, besides, it's funny watching them try reading it."

Piper, Leo, and the Romans were confused. What did Dionysus have to do with camp business cards.

When Piper mentioned it to Percy though, he looked at her like she was crazy. Finally, he looked to Annabeth as if asking, "Did I miss something here?"

She laughed and explained to the 'newbies' that Dionysus was the camp director, when he wasn't recalled to Olympus because Zeus had a bout of extreme paranoia.

The Romans were a little envious that the Greeks were being run by a god, and very confused when Percy told them that they were lucky to have Praetors.

 _ **Grover Underwood**_

 _ **Keeper**_

 _ **Half-Blood Hill**_

 _ **Long Island, New York**_

 _ **(800) 009-0009**_

"Huh, what would happen if the wrong person got a hold of those cards? That so conveniently have your address right there?" Reyna asked. It was a fair question in her mind, those cards seemed like a security risk to her.

Chiron smiled. "If any but a half-blood or a satyr were to touch them, they disappear, that is part of their magic."

That got Reyna's attention, maybe they could get something like that for Camp Jupiter...

 **("What's Half-"** **... summer address.")**

"Grover! Did you or did you not just spend the entire school year surrounded by rich kids and one kid struggling with money." Annabeth demanded.

Grover just looked at her like he hadn't thought of that. Percy just looked amused.

 **(My heart sank... the others at Yancy.)**

Everyone else sighed and shook their heads at Grover. They didn't even bother to point out to Percy that it wasn't like that, he hadn't known any better at this point in the books.

 **("Okay," I said... your mansion.")**

Everybody face-palmed, both at Grover for not realizing how his friend would take that, and at Percy for jumping to conclusions like that

 **(He nodded. "Or... or if you need me.")**

Everybody now started repeatedly smacking their foreheads, either that or glaring at Grover for not cutting Percy off, instead he encouraged it!

 **("Why would I need you?")**

Both Sally and Paul looked at Percy reproachfully. He gulped and jumped behind Mrs. O'Leary to get away from them.

 **(It came out harsher than I meant it to.)**

Paul and Sally's reproachful looks softened slightly, at least he knows when he's being mean.

 **(Grover blushed right...** **defended** _ **me.)**_

Grover looked touched that Percy had lost sleep over him. Percy grinned over at him from around the dog and said, "any time, man. Any time."

 **("Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?")**

Percy decided that it was safe to come out from behind Mrs. O'Leary, grumbling as he did so about why he couldn't have a normal life.

Grover and Annabeth sighed, they were also starting to wonder what a normal life was, especially years of hanging out with Percy.

For them, normal was hanging at camp, helping him sort out whatever fiasco the Stolls started that time, or watching Blackjack come get him to sort some issue out with the sea creatures in the lake, or leaving camp and fighting for their lives all the time, or being blamed for stealing something and/or racing to make sure nobody else stole something... oh to be a normal teenager again.

 **(There was a huge... side of the highway.)**

Immediately, the light mood in the throne room vanished. Percy, Grover, and Annabeth tensed up. They knew what was coming.

Percy and Grover because they had never told anybody about this, well, except for when Percy told Annabeth at the beginning of the chapter. They knew Sally would be mad at them for not telling her, Poseidon would be freaking out... Percy and Triton would probably have to cocoon him again... they really didn't want to die by overprotective parent.

Annabeth was tense because, while she may know what was about to happen, with everything going on back in their time with Percy being gone and about to go on another quest, without her this time, she really didn't want to hear about him meeting the Fates and watching them cut a string, even if it was Luke's.

Everyone else just knew that something had to have happened on that highway. For one thing, they saw the Trio tense up, for another, just face it, nothing ever good happens to demigods stranded on the side of the highway.

 **(After a few minutes...** **old-fashioned fruit stand.)**

Several of the gods froze. An old fruit stand in the middle of nowhere that just happens to be near one of the most powerful demigods ever? Not good. It couldn't be...Them... could it?

 **(The stuff on sale... of socks I'd ever seen.)**

All the gods unfroze and turned to stare at Percy. How was this kid still alive?

The demigods, especially _Percy_ were starting to get really nervous now. Anything that could make the gods worry like this was not good. The only thing keeping them semi-calm was the fact that Percy was still sitting right here. But still, those three old ladies didn't sound good at all.

Percy was just drooling at the sound of the food. He hadn't really had much to eat this morning, just what little of the cookies the others let him have. Add that to the chase, then he had to fight them off, which really wasn't fair. Sure, he's the best fighter in century's, but not even he can fight off 11 cookie crazed demigods, one mortal with a plastic hairbrush (and she knows how to use that thing!), and a satyr playing really bad reed-pipes.

Hestia noticed him drooling and figured it was the food description, she looked at her watch and announced that they can take a food break after the next chapter.

The biggest cheer came from Percy. He had almost forgotten that he might get death by concerned mother soon.

 **(I mean these... electric-blue yarn.)**

Now everybody realizes who they are. "The Fates." Clarisse breathed.

Frank and Hazel stared at Percy in horror. He saw the Fates when he was younger, and yet he still went on dangerous quests all the time?! He was fine going on this one to ALASKA?! Granted he hadn't remembered meeting the Fates, but still.

He noticed the looks he was getting and nervously looked over towards his mother. She looked furious, and worried. Oh boy, did she look worried. But she wasn't at the 'Percy Jackson you kept secrets from me you are dead meat' stage. Yet. Funny thing about Sally Jackson, she only got mad and yelled when she was very, very worried.

 **(All three women...** **bleached cotton dresses.)**

Nearly everyone except the Underworlders shivered at the description. It made them sound like they looked dead.

 **(The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.)**

If you looked at the complexion of Sally, and then Poseidon, you would notice that they looked like ghosts. However, everyone else was too busy worrying about the future state of their well-being, because, well, you just didn't do what they did and get away with it.

Sally, Poseidon, and Percy all muttered some very unflattering things about the Fates that resulted in them being buried alive under piles of books.

Needless to say, it took a while to dig them out, even with Mrs. O'Leary helping. When they were finally dug out, a note from the old ladies themselves appeared.

 _Dear Jackson's and Poseidon,_

 _Continue to speak like that about us and we will not send you our surprise at the end of this chapter. You may not like it at first, but it will make for good... anger management. Give you something to take your frustrations out on without worrying about breaking the throne room._

 _The Fates_

 _P.S. Its never a good idea to say such things about the beings that control whether you live or die._

They were all confused, surprise?

Percy and Poseidon were just happy, they could finally vent their frustrations on something!

They had both been holding back in order to avoid causing the throne room to collapse by earthquake, or flood, Percy had to hold back a hurricane a couple of times when Gabe was mentioned... he was just glad nobody noticed.

Poseidon decided to keep reading. The sooner the finished this chapter, the sooner he could vent in a way that didn't endanger everyone's lives.

As he did, the tension that had disappeared with the three getting buried under books came back.

 **(I looked over at... His nose was twitching.)**

At this point, Percy had to use his control over water to make sure everyone was still breathing. They were.

He also had to get Triton to loosen his grip on _Percy_. The kid was starting to turn blue, not that the kid complained, he had always wanted an older brother.

Percy was just a little jealous, his younger self was getting the brothering he never got.

The farther along this went, the more and more tense everybody became.

 **("Grover?" I said..** **. Not funny at all.")**

Although, it did get a few tense chuckles out of the listening crowd.

 **(The old lady in... Grover catch his breath.)**

Everyone else did the same. Percy was starting to get really uncomfortable from all the glances he was getting, but he figured that them reminding themselves that he was still there was all that was keeping them in their seats and somewhat calm.

He did have to help a few of them out when they started hyperventilating though.

Just don't ask him how he managed it, he had no idea. It wasn't until later that Poseidon realized what Percy had done, and the two of them were going to have a little chat about his powers. They were impressive, but it was clear that while Percy had an amazing amount of control over them, it wasn't enough to be safe.

For now, though, nobody noticed anything odd about how any of them were still breathing normally. They were too tense and focused on the book.

 **("We're getting on...** **but I stayed back.)**

Everybody broke out of their 'stupors' just to groan and complain about how Percy never listens when his safety is involved.

Mrs. O'Leary growled in agreement with them. Her human had no thought for his own safety.

 **(Across the road...** **four lanes of traffic.)**

Now Percy was freaking out a little. He's pretty sure several people stopped breathing. He had to triple check that they were, thankfully, the only one to have stopped breathing was his father, but that was easily solved. He just made another salt-water cocoon around him around until his breathing was back. The others... he didn't know what to do if they stopped breathing from shock.

He's just glad that they're all too absorbed in the book to start ranting about why he never told them (the futures Greeks), why he kept doing dangerous things when he saw the Fates (the Romans and futures), or trying to wrap him in a bubble for the rest of his life to keep him safe (Poseidon, Amphitrite surprisingly enough, and Mrs. O'Leary).

 **(Her two friends...- Sasquatch or Godzilla.)**

That didn't get a chuckle this time. Instead it got glares, although a few of the futures looked more fond then actually mad.

Trust Percy to come out of a potentially life threatening situation joking about it.

 **(A the rear of... roared back to life.)**

Now that the ladies were gone, the tension started to leave the room, much to Percy's relief, he considered himself a pretty laid back guy, and when things get too tense he tends to do what he can to lighten things up again. He did it all the time during the Titan War, when things got too tense, or when the campers started tensing up too much, he's crack a joke, make them smile. Keep things as light as possible in serious situations. In his opinion, if you went into a battle a nervous, tense wreck, you stood more of a chance of loosing.

However, in this situation, he had felt that it would be bad for his health to start cracking jokes to lighten things up. Even the Stolls, who usually helped him to lighten stuff up, hadn't looked to be in the mood to deal with his tension relieving methods.

Leo snorted, "Naturally, the bus just happened to start again right then... hold on." He suddenly turned to Percy, "Do you remember what that metal the driver pulled out of the engine looked like?"

Percy looked thoughtful as he slowly described how he remembered it to look. Everyone watched in amazement as Beckendorf, Leo, and their father turned an angry shade of red. They refused to say what that part had been, all Leo would do was ask his father through gritted teeth if it had been magic that made the bus start again. Turns out, that piece of metal, whatever it was, was one of the parts that made the engine an engine and not a useless piece of metal. ( **a/n, I know cars, I swear, just not that well** )

 **(The passengers cheered...** **I'd caught the flu.)**

Everybody now started looking at Percy like he was suddenly going to die right in front of them.

Percy sighed as he realized that he would probably have to tell people that it wasn't his. He had been hoping to avoid this because he knew that the futures would probably figure it out, and while he knew that they all knew better than to say anything in the hopes that it wasn't too late for this Luke, he knew that it would bring up bad memories, and no matter how he phrased this, the younger kids would just get depressed at the thought of people they might know dying.

Sure, they were demigods, and the life of a demigod is tough, but really, at this point only _Annabeth_ and Luke knew what it was to lose somebody like that. None of these past kids had lived in a war yet.

Quietly, he told the room at large that the string wasn't his, that it belonged to a... a friends. Yeah, a friends.

At first, the future Greeks were confused, but then they realized that Percy and Luke had actually been really close, Luke had acted like a mentor to Percy before trying to kill him and leaving camp. And the Fates themselves had carried Luke's body out of the throne room.

Mrs. O'Leary sensed his sadness and nudged him before licking him on the head. He chuckled softly and reached up to scratch her head.

The past kids were, just as Percy predicted, sad at the thought of somebody they knew dying. Percy saw _Annabeth_ hugging Luke like she would never let go, like she was scared of losing him. The sight broke his heart, partly seeing his WiseGirl like that, albeit a younger WiseGirl, and partly because he knew that it was Luke.

 **(Grover didn't look... were chattering.)**

Zeus raised his eyebrows at this. While he was still mad at the satyr for letting his daughter die, she had made it quite clear that she didn't blame him for that, so he knew it would be unwise to say anything about the goat's cowardice. Besides, his daughter was clearly alive and not a tree in the future, so no permanent harm done. But how his nephew was still alive with a satyr like this assigned as his protector was beyond him.

And that's another thing, he needs to speak with his brothers about that. Although he supposes that it's not really that surprising for Hades to have been the one to keep the oath, despite the fact that it was forced on him. He has an infuriating habit of keeping ALL his promises, so many good pranks ruined because he couldn't get Hades to help...

 **("Grover?"...** **telling me?")**

"EVERYTHING!" is what basically everybody yelled at the same time.

Percy hadn't been paying any attention whatsoever to what was going on as he was busy playing with Annabeth's hair, so he jumped a few feet in the air at the sudden noise.

Athena had noticed him playing with her daughter's hair and growled. She was going to have a little chat with her daughter next break.

It took everyone a few minutes to calm down so they could finish reading this chapter, for Poseidon had informed them that it was almost done.

 **(He dabbed his... the fruit stand?")**

Everyone started to wonder where Grover was going with this, even Grover couldn't remember, until he remembered that he hadn't seen what happened since he was already on the bus.

 **("You mean the... Mrs. Dodds, are they?")**

People started to wonder if Percy was really observant, or just starting to freak out right now.

 **(His expression was... worse than Mrs. Dodds.)**

'Well, if he wasn't freaking out before, he'll start now. And he is very observant.' Ran through several heads.

 **(He said, "Just tell...** **and she cut the yarn.")**

"Well, when you put it like that, I can see how you're confused as to why this is such a big deal." Dionysus drawled. People jumped, they thought he was asleep.

 **(He closed his eyes... something almost- older.)**

"You better watch out, you never know when he'll be watching," Poseidon quipped.

People started laughing as they realized that Percy had just compared to Santa Clause, in Poseidon's own unique way.

Why they wondered for years where Percy got his attitude is a mystery.

 **(He said, "You...** **it was a big deal.)**

Everybody nodded seriously, then Hades informed the room that you should never take death lightly. The futures nodded grimly in agreement. They'd seen enough of their friends die. Several of their eyes found those from the past who wouldn't be there in the coming years.

Thankfully, none of those from the past noticed their looks. Percy silently told them to knock it off, they were going to scare some people. The Romans saw his silent 'commands' and wondered.

 **("This is not happening," Grover mumbled.)**

Thalia groaned, "He's going to start going on about 'last time', isn't he?" When Percy nodded, she started banging her head on the couch and muttering something nobody could catch, but they had a feeling it was unflattering towards satyr's and pity parties.

 **(He started chewing... the last time.")**

Thalia didn't even bother saying anything. She started banging her head harder, to the point where Apollo got concerned enough to stop her and start checking her for a head injury.

Well, he tried anyway. She sent him scrambling back to his throne yelping in a hail of arrows.

Zoe and Artemis looked distinctly proud at the future lieutenant.

 **("What last time?"...** **get past sixth.")**

"Grover, now your just going to scare him. He doesn't know what's going on and your acting like he's about to die!" Katie exclaimed, finally having enough and feeling like she had to say something. Everyone jumped, they'd forgotten she was in the room. In fact, they looked around and there were several people they'd forgotten were there because they were so quiet.

Sally just looked disappointed that all this had happened and her son said nothing about it, then again, it sounds like there was a lot he never told her.

Grover looked down in shame and embarrassment.

 **("Grover," I said... to scare me.)**

Katie looked pointedly at Grover which he tried to ignore.

 **("What are you..** **. Promise me.")**

The futures groaned, even the Romans. They all knew that Percy wasn't going to do that. Grover was just acting way too weird.

 **(This seemed like... he could.)**

People sighed, Mrs. O'Leary whimpered. Yeah, that was one promise he probably hadn't kept.

Percy just grinned and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly while sending an apologetic look towards Grover.

Several people just wondered how this guy was still alive, while _Percy_ was thinking that the next chapter would probably have HIM in it.

 **("Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.)**

'Again, how is he so observant?'

 **(No answer.)**

"Grover!" Grover turned red at this. He knew he could have handled that better, but he hadn't thought he was this bad.

 **("Grover- that... is going to die?")**

"Yes, depends on whose string it is." Percy said matter-of-factly.

"Or, it could just be a warning for the one whose string it actually is, or a warning for someone else if it is somebody else's," Annabeth countered.

The futures groaned and cut wildly signaled Poseidon to keep reading. They did not want to sit through a Percy/Annabeth debate.

 **(He looked at me... best on my coffin.)**

"So, what did you pick?" Percy asked Grover.

He thought about it, "You know, I was thinking some nice water-lily's, or even-"

Annabeth cut him off and asked in her best innocent voice, "How about some moon-lace?"

Percy froze, and his face went blank, which told the futures that he was wildly trying to come up with a response that would let him keep his head. "Ah, moon-lace? What made you think of that?" Everyone who didn't know wondered idly why he looked so nervous that the topic of moon-lace had come up.

Chiron knew though. Oh, how many demigods had he seen come back from Ogygia with moon-lace in their pockets. He hid a snicker, this should be fun to watch, but at the same time, he wanted to know what the surprise would be. The other immortals also knew that Ogygia was the only place that moon-lace grew naturally.

Before Annabeth could respond, Poseidon decided to take pity on his son and announce that the chapter was done, although he did remind Annabeth that Percy had come back, he hadn't stayed there, so let it go.

Poseidon tossed the book to Hades, and smirked when Hades glared between him and the thing in his hands. He sighed and opened it up to get this over with.

Before he could start though, 2 more people appeared. One mortal bound and gagged that made the Jackson's squeak in fear and hide behind someone, and a demigod with a scar on his face.

* * *

Ok. That's done. I would have had this up sooner, but the internet was weird in my dorms all night, I'd get some done, go to save it, and then the internet would crash. Get the internet back, rewrite what I lost, and then the internet would crash again next time I went to save and the cycle continued. Anyway, there it is.


	5. Gabe

Disclaimer: I still do not own this series. Grrr.

Also, if it feels like a lot of people haven't been talking much, that's mostly because either I forgot they were there, or I just couldn't of what there reactions would be. Yes, I know, I'm a terrible person. On with the story!

* * *

 _Before he could start though, 2 more people appeared. One mortal bound and gagged that made the Jackson's squeak in fear and hide behind someone, and a demigod with a scar on his face._

Once the commotion of the Jackson's hiding settled down, the futures and the new demigod stared at each other. All the others looked too, he looked like an older version of _Luke_. Finally, Annabeth and Thalia couldn't take it anymore. They went up and punched him as hard as they could. This drew an even more shocked silence from the younger kids, while the futures just nodded in approval.

Of course, to have both Thalia and Annabeth punch you is no picnic, Luke was pretty sure he felt a few ribs crack, he's just lucky they decided not to punch him in the face. That was, of course, until Percy did it for them. Now he knows he deserved all of it, but it still hurt.

Finally, _Luke_ found his voice, well, somewhat. "Um, ah, did something happen?" He had a pretty good idea what happened, but, he also thought that the girls would have understood. Luke looked at him, then back at Percy. "How much have you told them and what time is this? The Fates didn't tell me much, just that they were trying to fix things."

Percy looked at him and sighed. "We haven't told them much, we were going to let the books do it. As for what time it is..." He looked at Annabeth trying to decide how to word this without giving anything away.

Annabeth stepped up and said, "It's the Winter Solstice before the scorpion... incident." While everyone who wasn't there for that murmured in confusion, all the futures eyes hardened as they remembered how Percy had looked coming out of the forest (those who were there, obviously). Luke understood immediately when he heard that, this was the day he stole the Lightning Bolt, this was the day he made his decision and caused so much pain for everyone he cared about. He sighed, 'great, now I gotta work on changing my own mind...'

He glanced over at _Luke_ , and seemed to be in thought for a minute, then he requested to see the book so he could catch himself up on the chapters he missed, Hades tossed it to him and he went over to sit in the corner after eyeing the future Greeks, all of whom had a hand on their weapons.

None of the younger people missed this, but they decided to let it slide for now. If it was important they would find out later.

While he did that, they turned their attention to the man tied up, the younger kids still glancing looking between _Luke_ and _Annabeth,_ clearly wondering just what on earth happened between them.

It was then that everyone realized that after punching Luke, Percy had retreated back to his hiding place, and was even now staring at the man with a mix of emotions on his face. Those who knew him realized that one of them was fear. Percy Jackson was terrified of this man. They glanced towards the other two Jackson's and saw the same looks on their faces. Who was this guy, and why were all three Jackson's so terrified of him?

All this time, Gabe had furiously been sitting there in silence, for the moment too shocked to really start yelling for Sally to get over there and untie him. He was angry when he noticed the brat, the brat that had destroyed his car. If he can just get out of these ropes!

That's about when the demigods noticed the smell. It seemed to be coming from the man, and that's when they realized who this was. Hadn't _Percy_ mentioned something about a SMELLY Gabe before? Hadn't Percy told both Grover's and Annabeth about a Smelly Gabe? Looking again at the Jackson's, they decided that whatever this man had done to them, they didn't want to know.

And, of course that's when the Fates saw fit to take off the gag.

"SALLY!" Sally cringed, it had been years since she last heard that voice, years since she no longer had to put up with him again. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? IF THAT BRAT HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS..."

He let the threat linger, and all three Jackson's retreated further, they knew exactly what would happen. Percy and Sally may not have seen him for years, but they would never forget.

Sally swallowed, looked between Paul and Poseidon as if assuring herself that she was safe here, then stood and slowly started walking towards Gabe, schooling her features as she went. She dimly noticed her sons also schooling their faces, that just made her angry. If he laid a finger on her son...

She stopped in front of him and adopted the light, cooperative tone she used to use on him, the one that told him she would do as she was told but she was soooo not happy about it. "Now, Gabriel, Percy had nothing to do with you being here, in fact, er..." Here she was at a loss for words, how to explain to the man what was going on, for that matter, why.

For some reason, she looked to Hades for help. Maybe it was the fact that the Gabe in her time was dead and he was the Lord of the Dead, or maybe it was just the fact that so far he seemed to be the nicest of Percy's uncles. He was certainly the one to have not yet threatened to kill her son just for existing. And she didn't exactly trust Poseidon to speak with him, who knows how much he knows.

Hades raised an eyebrow when he realized that she was asking for his help, but a moment later Gabe and Hades disappeared to who-knows-where so he could explain. He could have just done it then and there, but he figured that the Jackson's had some explaining to do where their reactions were concerned.

With Gabe gone, Demeter and Persephone made the room smell like flowers, muttering something about Jackson's, miracles, and noses. A somewhat awkward silence also fell, with everyone staring at Sally or Percy, clearly wanting an explanation. They would have demanded one from _Percy_ , but, well, he's 8. They didn't want to pressure him like that.

Sally and Percy actually had a staring contest during this, although it was actually more of a conversation that nobody, not even Annabeth or Paul, could follow. And they knew the Jackson's pretty well. Eventually _Percy_ joined the conversation, and it was a little while before they noticed any change in any of their facial expressions or postures.

Sally was the first to "snap," her expression changed so fast even Percy had a hard time catching it.

First disbelief, then anger, then blind rage, and finally guilt. Finally she just broke down. Both Percy's were on her in an instant. Percy made sure _Percy_ could handle this on his own, then he formed a giant bubble around the two of them that nobody but the Sea people could see through before turning to face the rest of the throne room. He looked wary, as though he knew exactly what was about to happen and would rather be anywhere but here.

Nico asked him if he was alright, and he sighed and answered, "Personally, I would rather be facing down your father again on the River Styx than be here right now."

Nearly everyone caught the fact that he said 'again,' and started to seriously worry about his sanity, but Poseidon decided to ignore that for now and focus on finding out what that man did to his son and Sally.

Before anything else could be said though, Percy went over to Hestia and quietly asked her if she could just show everyone those memories, he really didn't want to talk about it.

She hesitantly agreed, not quite sure if she wanted to be seeing this at all, and knocked him out so she could do as he asked.

Everyone could only watch in horror as they watched the abuse. They watched Gabe beat him bloody until Sally came home, then he would stop, tell Percy to clean up, warn him about telling Sally, and then set Sally to work in the kitchen before she could notice anything was wrong. They saw verbal and physical abuse.

They saw a random girl too, heard Percy plead for his sister. Until one day, she just disappeared from his memories. The girl, Percy didn't see everything Gabe did to her, but he could hear her through the walls.

The only times Percy was free of him was at school or when with his mother. They even heard Percy plead that the man not hurt Sally or the girl, Lily, he called her, he could do whatever he wanted with him, just don't hurt the girls.

Then they saw his memory of the day he came home from the quest. Not that everyone knew when that memory was. Saw his rage when he realized that Gabe had indeed hurt Sally. Saw his pain when he realized that he couldn't help her, he couldn't fight all of her battles. This was one battle she had to fight on her own. They saw him gesture to the box that suddenly appeared. A box that only Grover and Annabeth recognized, and they knew what happened to Gabe.

Finally it was over.

They could only stare as they watched Percy wake up. He wouldn't look at them, finally he just said, "We never found out what happened to Lily, she just vanished. We were twins, you know..." At this he looked at Connor and Travis, but his face was blank. Somehow they knew he was thinking about Castor and Pollux. And Connor and Travis may not actually be twins, but they certainly acted like it sometimes.

It was then that Luke walked up to him, stopped, and then just hugged him. Triton threw up a bubble similar to the one surrounding _Percy_ and Sally before Percy lost control.

It was at that moment that _Percy_ dropped his own bubble and that Hades came back with Gabe. They pretended not to notice the new bruising on the pigs face. Wait, no, that's an insult to pigs. What to call him...

Hades got one look at everyone else's faces and announced that the Fates were right, Gabe was excellent for anger management. That's when Sally attacked.

She punched, clawed, kicked, and pummeled the man that she married to keep her son safe, only for him to end up the one to hurt him the most. She punched out of anger and hatred for herself, hatred that she had never noticed, never even suspected that he laid a hand on her children. It took Poseidon and Ares both to pull her off of him, and when they did, a note appeared in Annabeth's hand.

 _So, by now you all know why the Jackson's hate and fear him so much. We've made it so that no matter what you do to him, you will not kill him, pity, I know, but if you just up and kill him then you won't have anything to take your anger out on the rest of the book._ (everyone smiled evilly at him, and somehow Riptide found its way between his legs where he was sitting on the floor. Everyone pretended not to notice.) _And Percy, don't worry about your sister. She's still alive. If you behave, we might bring her in later._

 _The Fates._

Percy started jumping for joy at the thought of seeing his sister again. He hadn't seen her in years! And she was alive! (He and Luke had come out of the bubble while Sally was attacking Gabe. They'd actually had a nice talk, considering they were usually trying to kill each other and that Luke was in fact actually dead now.)

Everyone started, they hadn't noticed that Percy was back. Before they could say anything though, Poseidon asked to speak with his family alone, and vanished off with the Percy's, Sally, Amphitrite, and Triton.

Hestia decided to go ahead and they would have their break now instead of later and everyone took off to the kitchens. Leaving Gabe still tied up in the throne room, alone with Mrs. O'Leary. You know, the dog that was fiercely protective of her human and had just seen her humans memories of this man... yeah.

Thalia had to help Annabeth walk, and Luke was doing the same with Grover. They had wordlessly agreed on a truce in the hopes that they could still change things. That _Luke_ could be talked to. Besides, Luke had made it clear he regretted his decisions in life when he went to help Percy after his memories were shown.

Annabeth and Grover were in shock. They'd never known any of that had ever happened. They never even knew Percy had a twin sister! They were his girlfriend and best friend! How could they not know that about him? It was small comfort that apparently not even Sally knew about the abuse, and she lived in the same apartment where the abuse was happening. She had even interrupted it several times.

As they sat down, Thalia and Luke had to practically force feed the two of them. They were in shock too, Thalia was as close to Percy as the two of them were, but they also still saw themselves as kind of Annabeth's parents. If not that then at least her older siblings, they were going to take care of her.

The room was very subdued. None of them could comprehend how the great, funny, brotherly Percy Jackson had ever been so abused. Jason felt that his jealousy earlier was now completely unwarranted.

The other Future Greeks were in shock as well. Now so much of Percy's behavior when it came to siblings made so much more sense. His protectiveness towards Pollux when Castor died made so much more sense. His fight or flight response when he first arrived at camp made so much more sense. His rage whenever his "family" was threatened. For they had all at some point heard him refer to them as family.

Suddenly so much of the mystery that was Percy was gone. And they hated that it was this way. That he had been forced to tell them something so personal and secret that not even his own mother knew, all because of some stupid book. Yes, they had been happy to learn more about Percy, but not like this. Never like this.

After about half an hour of trying to stomach her food, Clarisse couldn't take it anymore. She left.

At first she wandered a little aimlessly, but then she found herself in the throne room. Alone, with Gabe tied up and at the mercy of a protective hellhound. She was angry. She smirked at him and told Mrs. O'Leary to get some food. She would take it from there. It wasn't like he would die from anything she did to him. And her and Percy may not get along in public, but in private, they were like brother and sister. And now that she knew about Percy's twin...

In the backs of all the Futures minds who knew him, was one question. Why had Percy never told him about his twin sister?

* * *

Meanwhile, with the Jackson's and Sea people...

After flashing them all to Poseidon's rooms, Amphitrite took Sally off to have a mother-mother heart-to-heart. She also knew that the boys would want to talk privately.

After the women were gone, Poseidon brought both Percy's in for a bear-hug. Percy noticed that he was shaking a little and tried his best to calm him down and reassure him that he was alright.

During this, Triton was brothering _Percy,_ but oddly enough, _Percy_ didn't mind. Not now that he knew his sister was going to disappear.

Finally Poseidon spoke.

"Percy, I-I'm so sorry. I thought I did a good job keeping an eye on you, but I didn't even know anything about this... I never even noticed Lily was gone until a few days later, I was going to search for her, I swear! But then Zeus was breathing down my neck about who even remember's what and by the time it was safe to search, I couldn't find her anywhere, and I-" He started rambling, the feeling that he had failed his son was evident in how he was talking.

Percy cut him off with another hug, telling him that he doesn't blame him for anything. He understands. He knows that Poseidon couldn't be too attentive for fear of Zeus finding and ending them. He knows Poseidon did the best he could, he doesn't blame him for anything.

When Poseidon finally calmed down, he managed to sit his sons down for a physical. He may not be a healer or know anything about medicine like Apollo, but you'd be amazed what the King of the Sea could do with some salt-water.

On Percy he found some evidence of long healed broken bones, bruising, and numerous cuts. All of which seemed too old for his life as a demigod. The more recent ones, the ones that when asked Percy chalked up to being a demigod, included extensive burns, cuts, poisoning, etc. He even found traces of the Achilles Curse. It was gone of course, but the evidence remained. Then there was the empathy link. Satisfied that Percy was healthy and didn't have any lasting problems from that man, he moved to _Percy_.

He found hours old bruising, fresh cuts, a newly broken rib, and his ankle was still swollen from being badly sprained not too long ago. He wanted to go back and murder that man here and now for hurting his son, but he forced himself to stay and heal his son first.

It was evident by the relief on his face how much pain he had been in, the fact that he had hid it so well was worrying for Poseidon. His son was a little... too good, when it came to hiding pain.

It was then that Sally and Amphitrite came back from their little talk and the six of them could talk together.

The first thing Sally wanted to know was how Percy and Lily could have hidden something like this from her. She'd seen enough of the memory through the bubble to know what had been going on in that apartment, to know what she had been interrupting every day she came home from work.

Percy looked hesitant before finally spilling everything. How Gabe had treated them when Sally wasn't home, how Gabe made them provide his gambling funds, how they had to take summer jobs to keep him happy and so they had an excuse to be out of the house. How whenever they came home and Gabe wasn't having a poker party... how he called it play-time. How Gabe had threatened to kill Sally and Lily if he talked about this with ANYONE, how he had threatened Lily with the same...

All of this was said in a casual monotone that, quite frankly, scared the parents like nothing else ever had. And Sally had put up with him going on quests and fighting in the war.

When he was done, he looked at _Percy_ and quietly informed him that it was on their 9th birthday that Lily disappeared. _Percy_ gasped and felt tears come. That was in a week! No! Now he knew why she was nowhere to be seen, why his older self hadn't mentioned her, why Percy had silently stopped him from mentioning her earlier when he had been about to ask about her.

He now understood that Percy had never spoken about her to anybody, that it would have been too painful. He knew that he couldn't even imagine being able to talk about it after it happened.

That's when Sally said that not even Paul knew Percy was a twin. She smiled sadly. It was too painful for either of them to talk about, she said.

Percy asked, "Mom, your not mad at yourself, are you? Because, it's not your fault. You were trying to protect me, you had no way of knowing he would turn out like that..."

 _Percy_ was confused, something Percy noticed, so he elaborated. "Gabe smells so bad that he covered up our demigod scent so monsters would find us. As children of Poseidon, we're stronger than most demigods, so monsters find us easier. And since there was two of us... double the smell." _Percy_ 'ahh'd' in understanding.

Sally looked at her sons sadly, and told them that, of course she was mad at herself. She's his mother, she should've known something was wrong.

Percy looked distinctly proud as he said that he went out of his way to hide it and he was a pretty good actor if he did say so himself.

Poseidon chuckled then sighed, saying that they better get back with the others and grab something to eat. He then looked at Amphitrite and Triton and they all came to a silent agreement to made that man pay for hurting the Jackson's. Triton looked especially angry since he now knew he had a sister that wouldn't be as crazy as Kym and that man had touched her.

Sally looked at her watch and yelped that they had been gone for over two hours! ( **a/n remember how Clarisse was only in the kitchen with others for about a half hour before heading to the throne room? Yeah...** ) As if to prove it, all the boys stomachs rumbled, loudly.

They all flashed to the kitchens, where the short break and snack had turned into full on lunch, Poseidon announced that nobody was to bother either Percy or Sally for details, and then they all broke for food.

Percy made beeline for Annabeth's table, where he found Nico, Luke, Grover and Thalia. He sat down and started pulling food towards him after giving Annabeth a quick peck on the cheek. He looked at her and silently promised that they would talk privately later. The others had already decided that when Percy came back they would wait for him to talk first. For now, they made small talk.

For Percy, it was like that first summer at camp after the quest all over again. Except now Thalia and Nico were here to enjoy it with them. Him, Annabeth, Grover, and Luke. They had been quite the foursome that summer until Grover left for his search.

 _Percy_ went to go sit with the younger demigods, something Percy noticed and really hoped _Luke_ would keep the _Stolls_ under control. The camp just might not survive if the _Stolls_ managed to pass on their ways to an _8_ _year old Percy_. The camp had been in enough trouble when a 12 year old Percy and the Stolls met.

Finally, once the Jackson's and Sea people had managed to get some food in them, they decided to get back to the throne room.

It was only when they got there and saw Clarisse standing over Gabe's already healing form that they realized that they hadn't seen her for the past two and a half hours.

Oh.

What they saw almost made some of the younger kids lose their lunch. _Clarisse_ looked at her older self almost in fear, while the other futures just looked indifferent. They all knew that Clarisse and Percy had a strange brother/sister relationship thing going on. However much they tried to hide it.

She looked at them like, 'What?' so they decided to ignore it and get on with the book. Mrs. O'Leary came back and immediately claimed her human, both of them, grabbing them and curling up in a way that made it clear they were staying right there and nobody was coming near them.

She even growled at Annabeth to stay away!

Hades grabbed the book from where Luke left it in his corner earlier and sat down to read.

 **"Chapter three, Grover unexpectedly loses his pants?"**

* * *

Surprise! Percy has a twin sister that disappeared suddenly in my version. She may or may not come in later, don't know yet.

So far, Sally, Clarisse, Hades, and Mrs. O'Leary have let Gabe have it, and Poseidon only restrained himself in favor of helping his son.

Next chapter coming ASAP.


	6. Chapter 6

For those of you who were confused the past few days about my updating, I made a few changes to previous reading chapters. There are a few changes besides formatting that you might want to look over for future reference, there weren't many changes and they aren't big, just something I decided to do for a future chapter between Percy and Clarisse about their special training the futures do.

I also had somebody ask about Artemis blowing up over Gabe hitting a girl. She decided to wait and see what Gabe's punishment was later on. Both Sally and Percy hinted that he got what he deserved, so she's going to see what it is and then go from their. As much as she wants to pound his face in, she believes in letting women fight their own battles when they are perfectly capable of it, although she will step in if she wants to. That's this stories Artemis anyway.

I apologize for any confusion.

* * *

" **Chapter three, Grover unexpectedly loses his pants?"**

Hades asked in confusion. As the Grover's blush, everyone else starts rolling on the floor laughing. This is just what they needed after events of the past couple of hours.

 **(Confession time... bus terminal.)**

Everyone else grumbled, but knew there was nothing they could do about it at the moment. It was done, that didn't mean they could be happy about it though.

Grover just glared at Percy, although if anybody had been paying attention, they would have noticed that there wasn't any real heat to it. Grover knew he'd been freaking Percy out. Well, he knew now. At the time...

 **(I know, I know. It was rude.)**

Sally gave him The Look. The one all mothers have perfected to make their kid uncomfortable enough to try and defend themselves.

Hades kept reading though, so he didn't get the chance to.

 **(Grover was freaking me out,)**

Sally conceded the point and instead started quietly lecturing _Percy_ on why he should never do that no matter how freaked out he was.

 **(looking at me like... have to be sixth grade?")**

Thalia, both Annabeth's, and both Luke's growled.

 **(Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up,)**

Grover huffed.

 **(so I wasn't surprised... and First," I told the driver.)**

"Cool! We know where... wait a minute, we already know where you live! And that isn't it!" The Stolls said together, earning weird looks from those not as used to them, and blank looks from those that were.

 **(A work about my mother, before you meet her.)**

"Amazing!"

"Supercallifragilicousexpialidotious!" **(is this how you spell it? Eh, close enough)**

Everybody turned to stare at Nico.

"What? It fits." He defended. Everyone shook their heads at him, Hades wondered how much time that the kid spent in the Underworld and whether or not being in the Lotus for so long did something to him. Or maybe he'd just been hanging around Percy too long... He'd have Apollo check his head later, he decided.

 **(Her name is... died in a plane crash)**

Everyone turned to glare at Zeus, who ignored them, even whistling innocently.

 **(when she was five... no family, and no diploma.)**

Athena sat up and glanced at Sally, asking a silent question. Sally grinned and nodded, yes, she had gone back and gotten it. She even nodded towards her husband the English teacher.

 **(The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.)**

Poseidon looked somewhat proud... Amphitrite looked miffed. Just because she liked Sally and Percy didn't mean she liked being reminded that Poseidon had cheated on her.

 **(I don't have any... She has no pictures.)**

All the demigods sighed. Most of their mortal parents were the same way. Those that did have pictures never showed them, more often than not, the god/goddess just leaving them hurt too much.

 **(See, they weren't married.)**

Hera and Amphitrite both gave Poseidon a look. He shrunk back on his throne.

 **(She told me he... Not dead. Lost at sea.)**

Hermes whistled. "Not a lie, and not the truth either. I approve." He said, flashing Sally the thumbs up and a goofy grin.

 **(She worked odd jobs... But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.)**

The futures looked at each other, then at Percy, then they all screamed, "YA THINK?!"

Those not expecting it (all those not from the future and not from CHB) jumped a few feet in the air, _Clarisse_ even reached for her spear.

 **(Finally, she married... as a world-class jerk.)**

Quite a few of the demigods hissed at him, but made no move towards him, they figured that they might as well save their strength for the bad parts. That and they were too lazy at the moment.

 **(When I was young... wrapped in gym shorts.)**

Several people gagged, Percy sure had a way of describing things. That was pretty accurate, of course, actually having him near you and smelling like that was another story...

While Gabe struggled against his ropes and yelled stuff at Percy until Poseidon gifted him with a seaweed gag, Amphitrite made the room smell like the ocean, the problem was that she had to make it pretty strong in an effort of completely covering up Gabe's smell.

They would have to think up another solution later, she knew that not everybody could handle ocean smell for too long, especially at that intensity.

 **(Between the two of... all over the carpet.)**

 _Percy_ grumbled something that nobody could quite guess, although the look on Percy's face told people that he was having the same thoughts.

 **(Hardly looking up... _the last six months?)_**

Both Percy's cracked up, "Dude, if he actually said that I think I would have a heart-attack!" Percy exclaimed.

"I know, right! Remember when we came home that first summer he was with us?" _Percy_ asked.

"Dude! That was priceless! The look on her face!" Percy yelled, and they both dissolved into loud, long laughter.

When people looked at Sally for an answer, she just smiled and shook her head.

 **(Gabe had put on weight... handsome or something.)**

People looked over at Gabe and gagged. That was a pretty accurate description.

 **(He managed the... course. Always beer.)**

Eyebrows rose, Dionysus was not happy

 **(Whenever I was... punch my lights out.)**

Sally snapped. She didn't know what happened, all she knew was that one second she's sitting next to Paul glaring at the thing she called an ex-husband, the next, she's being dragged away from the thing by Paul and Poseidon.

The thing was rolling on the ground moaning around the gag, it looked like his nose was broken...

Several of the younger demigods looked at Sally like she was from another planet or something, while the older ones looked admiring and jealous.

Admiring that Sally was so awesome, and jealous that she was Percy's. But, they supposed that Percy of all people deserved her most...

 **("I don't have... up everything else.)**

Athena raised an eyebrow. Don't ask why, but she had just now caught on to why Sally married this guy.

"You married him to cover Percy's scent?" She asked Sally. Sally looked around from where Paul was still trying to calm her down and nodded, looking confused. Had she really just figured it out?

Everyone else was confused too, they figured it out almost as soon as Gabe showed up. Athena was losing her touch.

Of course, if any of the demigods said that, they would be dead. The rest of the council on the other hand...

"Did you just figure that out Athena? We've all known since that thing showed up here." Hermes said. He couldn't believe that the oh-so-smart Athena took so long to realize something.

Hades quickly kept reading before Hermes could be skewered.

 **("You took a taxi... Am I right, Eddie?")**

Annabeth whistled, "The walrus can do math... I'm impressed." This was said as sarcastically as is humanly possible. Or as demigodly as possible, whatever.

Percy smirked from his spot by Mrs. O'Leary. He had long since given up on trying to get out of the ball she had curled herself into around him and his younger self. He knew she was protective and all but, sheesh. This was a whole new level.

 **(Eddie, the super... "The kid just got here.)**

Sally grumbled that at least Eddie tried.

 **("Am I _right?_ "... passed gas in harmony.)**

Some girls (some guys too, don't let them tell you any different) just scrunched up their faces and turned green, a couple didn't care, and the rest passed out. It took about a half hour for them to bring Aphrodite around, everyone else woke up when Percy splashed water on them, but Aphrodite was another matter.

Hephaestus tried everything he knew that would wake his wife up, nothing worked, not even threatening to dismantle her shoe closet that held who knows how many shoes.

Then Poseidon tried dumping water on her, Percy estimated about half the ocean. Finally, Apollo tried with some doctor thing. She finally woke up when Hestia got annoyed with it all and set her hair on fire.

Hey, peaceful does not mean a perfect angel. She can be quite devious when she wants to be. Everyone else thought it was hilarious that it was finally her hair that woke her up.

 **("Fine," I said... "I hope you lose.")**

Dionysus grinned evilly, which surprised people because they thought he was sleeping again.

 **("Your report card... act so snotty!")**

Demigods from the future grumbled furiously, a couple even got up to go beat some respect into the walrus.

As they walked away, they felt tremors under their feet that seemed strongest where Gabe was, but when they looked back, all they could see was Gabe screaming through his gag about a earthquake.

When they looked back at Percy, he just smiled innocently back, not that anyone bought that. The Sea people were impressed. To display that much control over an earthquake...

They needed to get him under the sea for a while.

 **(I slammed the... cigars and stale beer.)**

A few more people started to go after Gabe, but before they could he was surrounded in a small hurricane to replace the earthquake.

While those who did not know Percy's abilities stared at him, Poseidon now realized just how much his son had been holding it in earlier. Now that he finally had a way of letting his anger out, he was still holding back so as to not destroy everything.

Zeus was also starting to be his paranoid self. Not that anyone was surprised by this...

Several people took the hint to leave Gabe to Percy for a while and took their seats again. Sally was just sad that she had ever thought that man would help protect Percy, even if he didn't know what he was doing.

 **(I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.)**

Everyone chuckled at his sarcasm. Oh, how they missed it.

 **(Gabe's smell was... snipping the yarn.)**

Several eyebrows rose. Jason was the only one to voice what everyone was thinking though.

"Wow, I know that he's bad and all, but..."

Percy smirked. "Yup." And left it at that.

 **(But as soon as I... go home without him.)**

Percy looked surprisingly dejected by this, he muttered something that only Annabeth caught. She looked ticked. She would have gone over to beat some sense into him for that except for the fact that he still had an over-protective hell-hound curled around him not letting anybody close. Not even her!

Hades kept going before she had a chance to say anything, she decided to bring it up when that part came up. Sally being taken was not his fault blast it!

 **(A sudden chill... horrible talons.)**

Everyone's eyebrows shot up, except for Annabeth and Sally's. Those two were the only ones who knew just how bad his nightmares were.

Everyone else was just wondering how wild his imagination could really run.

 **(Then I heard... my fears melted.)**

Percy spoke before Ares could, staring at the war god as he opened his mouth. "Proud of it, remember?"

Ares sat back sulking. It was no fun making fun of somebody if they were proud of what you were going to make fun of them for.

Sally just smiled. Remembering all those times before Gabe came into the picture of going to wake up her boy from his nightmares before he woke up his sister and then she would've had to deal with getting both of them back to sleep. She was happy that even now, a war and so many years later, she could still chase those away.

 **(My mother can... into the room.)**

If it was possible, Sally's smile grew bigger. Others looked between her and Percy in envy. Poseidon looked proud of her too.

Gabe would have said something nobody wanted to hear, but before he could make a sound the gag tightened and the hurricane around him sped back up.

 **(Her eyes sparkle... not even me or Gabe.)**

Now everyone looked very impressed. Now that they knew what the walrus had done, for her to never raise her voice... although now that they saw how she reacted to him, they knew part of that had been fear, but they also knew Sally. They knew the lengths she would go to protect Percy or even just to make her point clear.

They had a feeling that her never yelling at Gabe was more to self-control than anything else.

 **("Oh, Percy."... since Christmas!")**

"Ok, can one of you adults please explain to us kids why that is always, without fail, one of the first things out of any adults mouth when they see you?" Luke asked this one.

The other demigods nodded, they also wanted to know.

The gods looked startled, but thinking back on what they had observed or even what they themselves had done in the past, they realized that the demigods were right.

Sally just smiled conspiratorially and replied that they would understand someday.

All the demigods just groaned and would have said something unflattering towards Jackson mothers had it not been for the look the Percy's were giving them, daring them to say anything about his mother, despite the fact that they themselves wanted to know the same thing.

 **(Her red-white-and... when I came home.)**

"Wait, what?! Hey Perce..." From all the futures. Percy just looked at them and grinned, while _Percy_ put a finger to his lips as though to indicate that they weren't telling.

Sally laughed at their antics, yup, they were her sons alright. Never willing to share their candy.

Others were still a little shocked at how... alike these two were. I mean, yeah they know that they are the same person and all, but there was also a major age difference. They should not still be this similar!

 **(We sat together... sour strings,)**

A few of the Greek futures groaned at the mention of blue food.

The Percy's just grinned again. _Percy_ was just happy that it seemed like that habit of theirs never went away.

The past people and the Romans were a little confused, although Hazel did remember Percy having his pop blue the night before...

At their confused looks, Annabeth decided to explain that Percy was obsessed with blue food. He never explained why, he just ate nothing but blue food if he could help it. Now everyone understood that part, but now they were wondering what was up with the obsession. They had a feeling that only the three Jackson's knew, judging by the understanding on _Percy_ 's face.

 **(she ran her hand... doing all right?)**

People smiled at Sally. She was a good mother, they had a good relationship. Hera once again wondered why she didn't have that kind of relationship with her sons. Why she doesn't seem to understand is anybodies best guess.

 **(I told her she... glad to see her.)**

Sally and the Percy's smiled at each other. They didn't need words, they knew.

 **(From the other... I gritted my teeth.)**

As did everyone else in the room.

The hurricane around Gabe increased again, although this time Percy looked at Poseidon shocked. He shrugged before telling the room that he couldn't let Percy have all the fun.

This time the hurricane was so huge that Triton and Percy had to work together to form a water barrier to keep it contained, people were really glad that Gabe was gagged, otherwise his screams would be much, much louder.

 **(My mom is the... jerk like Gabe.)**

"You know, I think I'll settle for a really nice English teacher..." Percy said thoughtfully while looking at the ceiling. Paul beamed at him before pulling Sally in for a hug.

Percy just smiled at the ceiling.

 **(For her sake, I... convinced myself.)**

Hermes whistled, "The mark of a good actor and/or liar. To be able to put yourself in the role so well that you convince yourself."

Sally looked troubled while the Percy's just smile at each other. If it looked a little sad, nobody commented.

The Stolls were actually looking a little cheated that they hadn't known that Percy was such a good actor, in fact if they had him on their side they could get away with anything, even blame... it... on somebody... else...

Their eyes widened, they suddenly shot up and glared at Percy before shouting, "It was you!"

Percy looked over confused. "What was me?" Only _Percy,_ who knew the guy so well since he was the guy **(?)** , saw the signs that showed he was in full acting mode.

He smiled inwardly, another mark of a good actor was when nobody could tell you were acting.

The Stolls faltered for a moment before continuing. "All those pranks we got blamed for, the ones we didn't claim but nobody would believe us, that was you! We got blamed and punished for YOUR pranks!" Normally they speak in turns, but when they get mad like this... they tend to speak in unison the whole time. The futures were a little taken back. They had never seen the Stolls this angry before.

Then again, some of those punishments they were talking about had been kind of harsh... and if the Stolls hadn't pulled the pranks... but were still punished... and the whole time it had been Percy?!

Before Percy could say anything to get himself out of his newest mess, Clarisse spoke up. "Wait a minute, are you telling me that the guy who can't pull a successful prank to save his life actually out pranks the Stolls, and then pins it on the Stolls?! Without ever getting caught?!" The futures were starting to look like their world was ending. Truths that they knew, were no longer truths. What was next, was Artemis secretly married?!

Now everybody was staring at Percy in shock. Percy realized that he was caught, did it seriously take them four years to figure out that he was a master prankster? Of course, he was nothing alone, but when he was with Lily...

The Percy's just grinned, but there was something different to it. Now, his usual mischevious grin surpassed Hermes by far. They thought his troublemaker grin spelled trouble before, but now...

Percy stood up and bowed, "Allow me to reintroduce myself. Percy Jackson, part of the Twin Pranking Terrors of Manhattan." Here he grinned again. "If you thought those were good, you should see what I can do with my sister, honestly, pranking just isn't the same without her. Most of my pranks were actually designed and thought up with two people in mind, I just modified them a bit."

The futures just stared at him. Sally was trying to hold it in, oh yes, she remembered their pranks. Honestly though, she doubts that she even knows of half of them.

Suddenly Percy turned to _Percy._ "Remember that one time when we went to the station?"

 _Percy_ grinned and laughed, "Oh, man. Their faces!"

Now both Percy's were gone. Everyone just continued to watch as they lost it. Every so often one of them managed to choke out some detail of a prank that seemed absolutely meaningless out of context, but apparently was the best part.

The rest of the Seven froze as they thought of something. They were going to be on a ship for who knows how long. A small ship with only so much room to move around and release excess energy, with a cooped up Leo and Percy. Two devoted pranksters, two highly hyperactive boys who couldn't sit still to save their lives, one of whom could prank circles around the Stoll brothers and not get caught. They. Were. Doomed. **(Hazel and Frank were already informed about the trip to Rome that was being planned. The four working on the Argo II already figured that if Percy was going to Alaska with them, then they were probably the 'missing' two members of the crew)**

Judging by the Greeks reactions, the Romans were suddenly very glad that Percy was leaving for Alaska. Hopefully he didn't manage a prank on his way out the door...

The futures were a little floored that all those pranks that they thought had been the Stolls, weren't. They had been brilliant, and at the time the Stolls had insisted that not even they could dream up something like this, that this was way beyond them, how insulted they had looked at the thought that somebody could out-prank the pranking menaces of Camp Half-Blood... and all this time it had been Percy. The Stolls suddenly found themselves on the receiving end of some very apologetic demigods.

The guy they would have sworn up and down that he couldn't prank somebody to save his life.

When they finally calmed down, Hades decided to just keep reading at Sally's request. She really didn't want her boys to start sharing their pranking stories. Those could go on for hours and that was only the pranks she knew about. She also didn't want any of the Stolls to get anymore ideas than they already had. Nor did she want the futures to take revenge for those pranks at the moment.

She just hoped and prayed that the demigods never fell victim to Lily's pranks...

 **(I started choking... didn't seem so bad.)**

The Stolls grumbled at the reminder of Percy's acting skills. It just wasn't fair!

 **(Until that trip to... scare you?" "No, Mom.")**

Sally raised an eyebrow. Now that she knew the full story, she knew that wasn't true. Why was he lying and how had she not catch that? Of course, she still felt that something was up, but... to just miss an outright lie like that... for that matter, why was he lying about it?

Others in the room were wondering the same thing, while others felt like they knew the answer to that one. He didn't want to worry her, nor did he know that she would know what he was talking about.

 **(I felt bad lying... would sound stupid.)**

Sally bit back a groan. Seriously, that's why he was outright lying about this? She understood why he had been lying about how Gabe treated them, she wished that that hadn't been needed, but he had a better reason there. This was no reason! She would have said something, but Percy caught her eye and she decided to settle for later.

The demigods who had been wondering why too now understood. They'd all been there before.

 **(She pursed her lips... didn't push me.)**

Sally muttered something that nobody caught, but her sons felt like they knew anyway.

 _Percy_ was a little surprised, either his older self hadn't quite lied as well as normal, or she was getting better at catching him in a lie. He was going to go with her getting better.

 **("I have a surprise... nights- same cabin.")**

All three Jackson's and Poseidon grinned at mention of that beach. They loved that place.

 **("When?" She smiled... wasn't enough money.)**

Percy shuffled into a more comfortable position against Mrs. O'Leary before stating softly that another reason was that it just wasn't the same there without Lily.

Very few heard him, though those that did pretended they hadn't.

 **(Gabe appeared... you hear me?")**

Poseidon appeared near Gabe within the hurricane that was still going on. Luckily for the younger kids, they couldn't see what he did.

He came out and announced that from now on, anyone who wanted to beat up Gabe need only signal and he would let them in. The hurricane would not hurt them and would provide some cover since the younger kids didn't necessarily need to see that.

 **(I wanted to... get out of here.)**

Percy gritted his teeth. If the hurricane got a little stronger under the influence of two powerful people, nobody said anything. It was now at a level that could rival Hurricane Katrina. Luckily for the throne room, the two were demonstrating a surprising amount of control over it.

It was only worse now that he knew the full story behind why his mom had not wanted to anger him, why she had cared.

 **("I was on my... serious about that?")**

Several people disappeared inside the hurricane. They looked much calmer when they came back out. That was when Poseidon and Percy made the executive decision of ending the hurricane. They were getting tired, it was getting harder and harder to control the hurricane.

Poseidon still told them to ask when they wanted at him, he would send them somewhere until they were done.

People were just going to have to wait. The rest of the council could easily take him somewhere else if they wanted to no problem.

 **("I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go.")**

A lot of the demigods grumbled, which Percy grinned at. Honestly, he was a little surprised by their support of him against Gabe. He had been scared that they would start thinking he was weak, that they couldn't trust him to fight alongside them, now he knew that that was stupid.

 **("Of course he will,"... Sour cream. The works.")**

Hermes whistled again. He was really liking this mortal. Now he had an idea of where Percy got his apparent mischievousness that rivaled his sons. Percy and his missing sister were master pranksters and actors, and Sally was sneaky with getting what she needed. He needed to go through their ancestry, they had to be distant legacies of himself or something, there was no other explanation.

 **(Gabe softened a bit... clothes budget, right?")**

Aphrodite screeched. Those who hadn't been prepared for it themselves felt their ears ringing for hours.

She turned to Sally and told her in no uncertain terms that they were going shopping. Sally looked a little shocked and apprehensive, but when she looked to Percy for help, he just shrugged resigned. She then looked to Amphitrite, who just smile sympathetically.

Piper joined her in asking others for help when her mother demanded that she accompany them, she too got no help. All the other futures knew that there was no getting out of this one. Those who didn't have personal experience with Aphrodite had heard the stories from those that did.

 **("Yes, honey," my... but there and back.")**

At mention of the car, Percy, Sally, and Grover grinned. Percy's grin scared some people. A lot of them felt that they were going to have nightmares for a while.

Gabe also started struggling against the ropes. Apparently, all his beatings hadn't gotten through his thick skull. Oh well, people were too tired right now to bother.

They did have to wonder about the car though. Only Annabeth seemed to know everything that happened, having been the one to help Chiron bring the boys into the Big House.

The rest of the futures just knew it was destroyed somehow, although they had a feeling it had something to do with Percy's Minotaur horn.

 **("We'll be very careful.")**

They just grinned again. Careful didn't take an angry Minotaur into account. Gabe started struggling harder against the ropes.

Finally, Poseidon set off a small earthquake under him in warning. He would have gotten worse, but Poseidon didn't have the energy to deal with him at the moment.

 **(Gabe scratched his... my poker game.")**

A few people turned towards him in disbelief. He didn't interrupt it, he funded it for crying out loud!

A couple of the older kids who didn't really care about the younger kids in the room cursed a bit before the women stopped them with a look. But seriously, lets face it. They're demigods. If none of those kids have never heard the same or worse then it would have been a miracle.

Sally in particular was looking at _Percy_ when she scolded the older kids for their mouths.

Jaws dropped when the kid, the 8 year old, nonchalantly informed her that he'd heard worse. When Sally made to demand who from, he just looked at Gabe. Percy nodded beside him.

The next thing everybody knew, they were waiting for Sally and Gabe to be brought back.

 **(Maybe if I kick... soprano for a week.)**

"Please tell me-" _Percy_ started but was cut off by Percy shaking his head sadly and looking at Sally.

 _Percy_ would've gone off with the colorful words Gabe taught him, but Percy felt that something like that wouldn't be good for his hearing later, so he stopped him.

A few of the demigods had a feeling they knew what Percy had stopped and looked a little shocked. They were learning all kinds of new things today.

 **(But my mom's... what he thought?)**

Sally and Percy all sighed and grumbled something. The select few that hadn't caught on yet (and hadn't been paying attention earlier when Athena figured it out) what that reason was were excited thinking they were finally going to figure it out.

 **("I'm sorry," I muttered... go back to it right now.")**

Nico sighed. "You know, is it sad that I missed his sarcasm? 'Cuz it's the best."

Future demigods in the room nodded. They had all been at the receiving end of Percy's sarcasm, and yet... they missed it. It was annoying when he was obvious about it, and now they wanted it back.

Percy just grinned. Leo narrowed his eyes. Did they just imply that Percy was better with sarcasm than he was?

Dude, he INVENTED sarcasm!

 **(Gabe's eyes narrowed...** **whatever," he decided.)**

Everyone burst out laughing. It took them a while to stop.

While they couldn't really say they were surprised the walrus was too stupid to detect obvious sarcasm, they still found it hilarious.

 **(He went back...** **to tell me, okay?")**

 _Percy_ raised his eyebrows and looked at his mom from the future warily. Percy caught the look and silently reassured him that he was just off his game that day. Now that he knew their secrets were safe, not that they had that many left anymore at this point, he leaned back against the giant dog still curled around them to continue listening.

 **(For a moment, I... odd chill in the air.)**

A few people tensed slightly. Chill in the air that was in no way related to the weather was not good near a demigod.

 **(But then her... been mistaken.)**

Nobody else thought he was mistaken. They all glanced at him wondering how he made it camp alive when stuff was happening around him and he didn't even know that it was real and couldn't protect himself.

 **(She ruffled my...** **\- for the whole weekend.)**

Hera started grumbling about idiots who don't care for their wives. Her and Gabe disappeared for a bit.

 **("Not a scratch on... "Not one little scratch.")**

Gabe saying that in the book for some odd reason made the futures fall out of their seats laughing, and Gabe started struggling against his ropes, trying to break free so he could presumably strangle Percy.

In answer to the looks Percy was getting from the rest of the room, he just grinned mischievously and told them they would find out in the book.

That's about when Hermes started the betting pool on how the car ended up being destroyed. He also mentally asked Athena to look up Percy's mortal ancestry. Sally had to be one of his legacies.

 **(Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve.)**

 _Percy_ glanced at Percy and muttered so that only he could hear. "Like that's ever stopped us before..."

Percy glanced down at him and grinned. Good times, good times.

 **(But that didn't... find a way to blame me.)**

 _Percy_ grinned. "Technically..."

"Technicalities don't count." Percy countered. "Besides, that was Lily."

 _Percy_ paused, then shrugged. "So?"

The future demigods were thanking everybody they could think of that they had survived four years of knowing Percy, a few of them were also grateful that Lily wasn't around. Camp would've probably burned within the week. Now that they thought about it, camp was pretty quiet and prank less since Percy disappeared. Huh, and here they thought the Stolls were finally out of ideas.

 **(Watching him... movement toward Gabe.)**

"That's not going to..." But Athena was cut off by Hades who kept reading.

 **(The screen door... shot from a cannon.)**

Athena slowly turned her head to stare at Percy, who was engrossed in coming up with prank ideas with _Percy_ to use while they were here.

The others suddenly didn't want to be in the same room as them.

The council struck up a quick mental conversation that involved Zeus being paranoid and ended with Poseidon warning the others what would happen if they touched a hair on his sons head.

He also instructed that they were leave his son alone and leave talking to him about his abilities to him.

The conversation ended when Hades noticed that the Percy's had finished planning and the demigods were getting antsy waiting for them to keep reading.

 **(Maybe it was... enough to find out.)**

The Hermes crew raised their eyebrows. Maybe they didn't need to bother forcing Percy to memorize the rule book over the years... he obviously knew what he was doing...

 **(I got in the...** **too cold to swim in.)**

Annabeth looked over at Percy. "Minus the spiders, sounds like a really good place."

He grinned over at her, "After we get back from our quests." He promised. She grinned, Athena twitched, _Percy_ and _Annabeth_ looked like they were still trying to figure this out.

Aphrodite snorted, don't let her tell you any different, "Considering your father, somehow I doubt that the cold water bothered you."

 **(I loved the place.)**

Aphrodite looked around like, 'See?'

Everyone else just rolled their eyes, like they needed her to state the obvious here. Some were more discreet with their eye-rolling than others. Those that weren't got the 'Pink Treatment.'

In other words, they, their clothes, and their hair were now covered in pink. Several of the guys yelled and ran for the nearest bathroom (led by Ares), but no matter what they did it wouldn't come off.

Those who had avoided the Pink Treatment, (Percy, Nico, all the girls except for the Clarisse's, Poseidon, and Hades) were busting a gut laughing before they came back and it was learned that the pink wasn't coming off for a while. Percy was laughing at his younger self so hard that Mrs. O'Leary started growling softly, all his laughing was vibrating her side and it tickled. It took a while for Hades to stop laughing so he could keep reading. Persephone was smiling, it had been a while since he laughed like that.

 **(We'd been going... where she'd met my dad.)**

All the Jackson's and Poseidon grinned. Amphitrite raised an eyebrow at him, so that's where he had been disappearing off to... well, it was quite the beautiful stretch of beach for it being so close to the city.

 **(As we got...** **brought from work.)**

"Awww, man. I love that cleaning routine! Why can't cleaning always be that much fun?" Complained the Hermes crew and all the other demigods that were not Katie, Annabeth, Piper, or Roman.

Sally and the other mothers were not happy if their faces were anything to go by.

"And what's-"

"With all the-"

"Free candy all the time?" The Stolls inquired.

The Percy's just grinned.

 **(I guess I should explain the blue food.)**

"YES PLEASE!" Shouted everybody who did not know. Which was, everybody.

 **(See, Gabe had... streak, like me.)**

"I'm sorry, streak? Percy Jackson you do not have a rebellious STREAK. You have a rebellious HIGHWAY. Like, at least 6 lanes wide." Nico said, with Thalia nodding along beside. The other futures nodded too once they thought about it, even Chiron once he thought back to the past year of teaching him. Luke especially had been on the other end of that rebellious side, now, several duals to the death later, he fully understood and appreciated what Percy meant when he said 'the sea does not like to be contained.'

Percy just shrugged. They were getting tired of him shrugging everything off.

Sally groaned and muttered to Paul that it was a good thing Lily was the calm one of the two. Just the more devious.

"Seriously though, your obsession with blue food started because of an argument over whether or not blue food existed." _Annabeth_ asked incredulously.

Percy grinned. "Yup."

"But you forget, it was an argument with Gabe." _Percy_ tacked on.

"So, it only makes sense that it stuck. Rebellious highway, remember?" Percy finished.

For some reason people started looking between the two of them and the Stolls.

 **(When it got dark... the candy shop.)**

"Oh! That reminds me," Percy turned to Sally. "How's it going, your still working on it right?"

She smiled and said that yes, writing was how she coped. Percy breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't want his mom to just waste away or something because of him.

 **(Eventually, I got... of hearing them.)**

Beckendorf smiled. "None of us do." It was said so softly the gods almost missed it. It made a few of them feel bad about never getting in touch, but they only had to think about what happened to Hermes to know that it was for everyone's own good.

The demigods all nodded in agreement. Even the Romans, and they were all about discipline, but at the same time the Roman versions kept their distance even more than the Greek versions did.

 **("He was kind... and his green eyes.")**

The Percy's, Poseidon, and Triton grinned. Yup, it that was them.

 **(Mom fished a blue... would be so proud.")**

Poseidon smiled again before nodding his head at the Percy's when they glanced over. They both looked away again hiding smiles of their own.

 **(I wondered how... sixth time in six years.)**

Leo whistled. "Wow, you beat my record. I wasn't kicked out, I usually just stopped going, cuz, you know. Stuff." Only Piper, Jason, and his dad had any idea what he was talking about.

Percy just scratched the back of his head a little awkwardly as he looked over at his dad's unreadable expression.

Finally Poseidon said that he wanted to talk to both Percy's later that night, after they were done reading for the day and before whatever it was the futures were up to later that night.

 **("How old was I?"...** **you were born.")**

"Wait, what? But..." _Percy_ trailed off confused. Percy nodded, he knew exactly what was going through his younger self's mind.

Poseidon frowned, he had a feeling he knew what was coming, he'd seen it so many times between other children and their mortal parents. This was not going to be fun.

 **(I tried to square...** **never even seen me...)**

"I did." Poseidon stated softly. "Your mother wasn't home and the sitter was in the living room not doing her job. Zeus was busy somewhere else, so..." He trailed off at the expression on Percy's face. Pure joy.

Hades decided to keep reading before Zeus could get on his high horse.

 **(I felt angry at... stuck with Smelly Gabe.)**

"Believe me, if I had known what was really going on there..." He finished with a threatening look towards Gabe, adding a mini-quake just to prove his point.

At this point, Gabe didn't even try to rise to the bait.

Percy just smiled softly. "I know, dad. I know."

 **("Are you going...** **want me around?")**

Percy closed his eyes as he listened to the sharp breath intakes around the room. Mrs. O'Leary whimpered and nudged him with her nose, she didn't like seeing him like this. He was supposed to be strong and reckless, not... this.

He sighed and found an interesting spot on the floor to stare at while silently praying that Hades just keep reading and not give people time to badger him about it. Either Hades got the message or he was feeling merciful today, because he kept reading.

 **(I regretted the words as soon as they were out.)**

Any protests anybody had over what Percy said earlier to his mother stopped at that. A few of the demigods even felt like they knew where something like this was coming from.

 _Percy_ laid a hand on his older versions self, he kind of knew where it had come from too, even if the book Percy had four extra years of dealing with it.

 **(My mom's eyes...** **me to leave Yancy.)**

At this reminder, a few people turned to glare at Mr. Brunner/Chiron for this reminder. They figured that it was good that he at least had the decency to look sheepish about it.

Mrs. O'Leary somehow managed to curl herself tighter around her humans.

 **("Because I'm not normal," I said.)**

Nico, Thalia, and Luke snorted. "You bet your not." They all said this in unison, which kind of creeped some of the futures who fought Luke in the war out. They had actually forgotten he was there, he had been quiet just so they wouldn't get uncomfortable around him, after all, he did betray them and try to kill them... nothing to be uncomfortable about here, nope. Nothing at all.

Luke rolled his eyes and stated, "Perce, if you were normal, I- your enemies would have killed you a long time ago. Instead, you gave them the headache of all headaches trying to figure out how to take you down or get you to join m- them." Here's hoping none of the past people who didn't know about his betrayal caught his slip-ups.

The futures all raised an eyebrow at him. At least Percy gave him a headache while Luke was trying to kill him, that was something at least. They just weren't expecting Luke to sound... apologetic. It was official, they needed to talk later. Traitor to betrayed.

Those from the past who did catch his slip-ups had a bad feeling about Luke's involvement in all this. They decided not to say anything though, they didn't want to start something with no proof, besides, it seemed like whatever issues there were got dealt with when Luke first arrived.

Everyone else just felt inclined to agree that Percy was anything but normal.

 **("You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy.)**

Some shot pointed looks Percy's way, others decided that it wasn't worth the effort, Percy was just as pointedly ignoring them.

 **(But you don't realize how important you are.)**

More pointed glares that he was still just as dutifully ignoring.

 **(I thought Yancy...** **"Safe from what?")**

This time it was Katie. "Just about anything and everything that ever lived."

The younger people laughed. Until they realized Katie and the rest of the futures were absolutely serious.

Percy was even grumbling something about Poodles and English exams for some reason. Whatever that was about, Mrs. O'Leary seemed to find it amusing. Thalia and Nico did not. Was it everybody else's imagination, or did the three of them turn to glare at Persephone?

 **(She met my eyes...** **the middle of his head.)**

People started to turn to Poseidon before Percy interrupted them by saying yes, Poseidon sent him. End of story.

 **(Before that- a... my meaty toddler hands.)**

Leo whistled, "Just like Hercules."

Next thing Leo knew, Percy was standing over him with Riptide embedded in the couch by his throat.

"Do. Not. Compare me to Jerkules. Ever." He growled. Everybody except Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover were shocked. One, what did he have against Hercules. Two, why did it require such a reaction?

If Zeus was offended by Percy's name for his son, he didn't show it. Even he had to admit that Herc's attitude could get a little annoying. Part of the reason he shipped him off to guard the entrance to the Ancient Lands. Far away him.

Zoe and Artemis were just floored. They thought everybody wanted to be like him. Percy put Riptide away when Leo frantically nodded his head and promised never to do that again.

Then, Percy looked to Zoe and told her in no uncertain terms that he was nothing like Jerkules. Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia nodded in agreement to that. What he said next really floored Zoe, "I don't make promises I don't intend on keeping at somebody else's expense." To say that Zoe's jaw hit the floor is an understatement.

It wasn't until Percy calmly returned to his 'seat' that Hades seemed to pull his own jaw off the floor and cleared his throat before continuing the chapter, after checking that they were almost done.

 **(In every single...** **I didn't want that.)**

Percy started grumbling something again, to which Sally replied that if they had left right then, it could have caught them on the road in the middle of nowhere instead of right by camp. Percy was going to argue but Sally signaled Hades to keep reading before he could.

All the futures had a feeling they knew what the next chapter would be about.

 **("I've tried to... stand to do it.")**

Dionysus sighed. "That's how most of them get killed you know." He pointed out.

As the rest of the council turned to yell at him, Sally stopped them. "He's right. Percy and I almost died before I could get him to camp... not to mention all the other times over the years Percy was in danger."

Dionysus stared at Sally and blinked. A mortal honest about her failures? A modest demigod? What was happening to his world?

The others looked at her to protest, but she politely asked Hades to finish out the chapter.

 **("My father wanted...** **mentioned it before?)**

"He has a point there, Sally. Why-" _Annabeth_ started before being cut off by her older self stating that she didn't need to know everything, some things were private.

Sally sent a grateful look Annabeth's way, while Percy grumbled about books and privacy. Those that overheard him couldn't decide whether to by sympathetic or amused. Some went for a mix and ended up with some very interesting facial expressions.

Athena raised an eyebrow Annabeth's way. It sounded like she was speaking from experiance.

 **("I'm sorry, Percy,"...** **a summer camp...")**

"You know, when you don't know what the place is like and what it's for, I can see why you'd be confused about not being able to see her again." Rachel said softly. Again, surprising everyone because they forgot she was there.

 **(She turned toward... she would start to cry.)**

Nearly all the males in the room started grumbling about women and tears. Seriously, why were those things so powerful?!

 **(That night I had a vivid dream.)**

"Hear we go..." grumbled all the Big Three kids in the room.

At the confused looks from those that had no experiance in being around a Big Three kid, Thalia decided to explain that the five of them were more powerful than the average demigod. So, their dreams tended to be worse than the average demigods. It didn't help that every time something happened Big Three kids tended to be thrown into the front lines and expected to deal with it first, so they tended to see more stuff that they really rather they didn't.

At the dark looks on the Big Three kids faces, those that had been slightly offended by Thalia just calling them more powerful, they decided that maybe not being that powerful wasn't such a bad thing. They didn't want to fight the battles these guys fought.

For some reason, Percy, Thalia, and Nico all glared at Persephone again. Even Mrs. O'Leary growled softly at her.

 **(It was storming... at the edge of the surf.)**

All the gods froze. This sounded serious, they couldn't remember the two of them ever fighting THIS bad before. Sure, they fought all the time, but...

 **(The eagle swooped... animals to fight harder.)**

The future demigods gasped. He was dreaming about it even before he reached camp!

The gods threw looks Hades way, but Percy loudly and clearly stated that it wasn't him. Zeus tried to say that there was no one else it could be until Percy gave him a look that had Zeus outright forbidding the topic, still insisting that there was nobody else it could be. At this point, Luke was ticked that his plans were so easy because the one time he needed the paranoid idiot to be a paranoid idiot, he wasn't. _Luke_ was actually feeling a little hopeful that this might be easier than he thought.

So, Percy singsonged, "Destroyer of Kronos..." When Zeus still refused to believe it, Percy looked him dead in the eye with the most seriousness anyone had even seen on his face and told him very bluntly that that kind of attitude was going to get everyone killed and Olympus destroyed.

 _Luke_ felt all hope that had appeared at Zeus's outright denial disappear when Percy reminded the room of his titles. This was not going to be as easy as he thought.

Finally Hades decided to keep reading before the future demigods decided to mutiny. They did not look happy with Zeus right now.

 **(I ran toward them...** **woke with a start.)**

All the demigods looked shaken except for the Big Three kids. They've all had worse.

When a few of the others looked at Percy in concern, he shrugged and said as much. Then he looked at Nico and Thalia and silently communicated that they needed to find a spot to train while they were here. That's how they coped, they trained instead of sleeping.

 **(Outside, it really...** **said, "Hurricane.")**

Now the gods were really concerned. That wasn't just any vision, that was live. What on earth happened at the winter solstice? Surprisingly, it was Apollo who remembered the books title.

He abruptly stood up and stared at the demigods in horror. Whispering, "It was stolen?"

Percy raised an eyebrow in his direction before glancing at Athena, only to see her looking as confused as the rest of the council. He looked back at Apollo before saying yes, and there was more going on here than what appeared. He refused to say anymore.

Meanwhile, Annabeth was staring at her mom with her jaw on the ground. First, Athena is the last one on the council to realize why Sally married Gabe, and now she can't even remember back to the books title to figure out what's going on? What's more, Apollo beat her to it!

Seeing the look on Annabeth's face and the rest of the futures looks made Athena feel like she was seriously missing something here.

 **(I knew that was... to have forgotten.)**

Everybody turned to glance at Zeus and Poseidon again, all of them except for Apollo wondering what on earth happened.

Apollo had already figured out that for some reason Zeus was blaming Poseidon but couldn't figure out why until he looked at Percy. So, he mused. It's not Poseidon getting blamed so much as it is Percy, Zeus must be thinking that Poseidon put him up to it or something though...

 **(Over the roar... hair stand on end.)**

For some odd reason that only Annabeth, Nico, Grover, and Thalia seemed to understand, Percy suddenly yelled out, "Hamburger! It's been so long!"

Now everybody knew he was insane. Especially when he turned to Annabeth and reminded him to pay Hamburger back next time for hurting Blackjack.

Luke raised an eyebrow, he had a feeling he knew what Hamburger was.

 **(Then a much** **... he wasn't exactly Grover.)**

"Really? then-"

"What, pray-"

"Tell, is he?" All four Stolls asked. Travis paired with _Travis_ and Connor paired with _Connor_. The others found it a little creepy.

Percy just raised an eyebrow before he mouthed something that had the older Stolls jaws on the ground with them drooling. _Percy_ smirked, that trick works every time on small time pranksters like them.

Everyone else in the room slowly backed away from the crazy demigod. Whatever he just told the Stolls, they didn't want to know.

 **("Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?")**

"I was thinking that my friend was acting weird and was seriously starting to creep me out." Percy replied.

Grover just shrunk back in his seat, beet red.

 **(My mother looked...** **didn't you tell me?")**

"A lot apparently." Sally grumbled.

Percy just looked sheepish and called out, "Love ya mom!"

She just sighed and smiled. Yup, that was her boy.

 **(I was frozen...** ** _theoi!"_** **he yelled.)**

"Language, Underhill!" Dionysus snapped. Both Grover's jumped about a foot in the air before yelping out a 'yes, sir!'

The rest of the Greeks just snickered while the Romans looked confused, they thought his name was Underwood?

 **("It's right behind me! Didn't you _tell_ her?")**

Percy just sheepishly scratched the back of his neck again.

 **(I was too shocked... where his legs should be...)**

People's eyebrows rose. Ok... the futures had a feeling they knew where this was going.

 **(My mom looked... " _Percy._ Tell me _now!")_**

 _Percy_ 's eyebrows shot up. His mom just... did she just... that was new.

 **(I stammered something... flashes of lightning.)**

Sally sighed, "Your stammered answer didn't even begin to cover what all happened."

 **(She grabbed her... Both of you. _Go_!")**

At the mention of the car, Gabe started thrashing around again. Everyone stared at him, to be honest, they forgot their anger relief was there. They just got so caught up in the story. Poseidon set off another earthquake under him as a reminder to keep quiet, then Hades continued reading like nothing happened.

 **(Grover ran for the Camaro... when he walked.)**

Now his shock made sense to so many more people. Seeing a satyr for the first time would be a bit of a shock.

 **(Because where... were cloven hooves.)**

"Done." Hades announced before tossing the book to Triton.

Hestia glanced at the time and announced two more chapters before dinner, then a couple more before bed and whatever talks or competitions were scheduled to happen.

 **"** **Chapter four. My Mother Teaches me Bullfighting."**

* * *

Ok, my reasons behind making Athena into an idiot are as follows. I feel like she would be very analytical and statistical. People like that tend to miss what's right in front of them and the most obvious. Also, I just don't really don't like her all that much, she just seems way too proud and set in her ways to ever really change 'for the better.'

I'm having Apollo be all smart and stuff because he strikes me as the exact opposite of Athena and the most underestimated aside from Hermes. He sees what's right in front of him because he seems to live more for the here and now, while Athena is always making plans for tomorrow.

So yeah, there's that explanation.

Sorry this took so long, college.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I wish I did own Percy Jackson, but I still do not.

Sorry this took so long, college.

And for those of you who commented on the fact that Percy's birthday is in summer while they are currently in December, TIMETRAVEL. They were all sent to the same point in time regardless of where they were. I'm well aware of when Percy's birthday is, I did not make the biggest and dumbest mistake in the history of timeline mistakes. Do not accuse me of such.

* * *

 ** _Chapter four, My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting_**

Triton read. Everyone turned to look at Sally at the same time, almost like it was planned.

Those who knew looked at both Percy and Sally in sympathy, not pity... they knew what Percy would do to them if he thought they pitied him, and those who didn't know were looking at her in confusion, especially Poseidon.

He didn't remember her saying anything about bullfighting nor could he think of any reason for her to have ever learned how to bullfight.

 **(We tore through... kept her foot on the gas.)**

Ares grinned, but before he could say anything, Hephaestus spoke up. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Best way to drive, blah, blah blah. And I'm the one left to clean up the mess that used to be called a bike." He finished bitterly.

He may be a mechanic, and he may love his job and machines, but fixing the same thing over and over again, and for no other reason than the fact that his brother was just being an idiot was just annoying.

Hera, Aphrodite, and even Apollo nodded in agreement. Hera because she's his mother, even if she isn't the most motherly, Aphrodite because this is her boyfriend and husband involved, and Apollo because, well, Apollo.

Everyone on the council and most of the future Greeks agreed that Ares was an idiot.

 **(Every time there... if I'd gone insane,)**

"Percy, you've always been insane." Nico said seriously. Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth nodded in agreement. The rest of the futures just watched.

None of them came to Percy's defense when he protested and looked to them for help. "You guys are no help, see if I ever do you anymore favors," he grumbled.

All the past people watching were unsure of how serious they were actually being right now, and whether or not they should laugh or back away from Percy. _Percy_ just watched. He knew perfectly well that the two of them fit into the 'insane' category.

Not even Sally, Paul, or Poseidon came to his defense. The Lost Hero trio were really starting to wonder, and Jason was starting to feel that all Greeks were insane just for following a guy they called insane. Of course, he already thought they were insane just from watching them fight and live with no discipline whatsoever, but now...

 **(or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.)**

Aphrodite shuddered, even Piper looked a little sick at the thought, Leo and Jason were both starting to wonder if her mother had finally corrupted her when they saw her face.

 **(But, no, the smell... of a wet barnyard animal.)**

The Grovers turned to glare at Percy. They were not barnyard animals! They were only half goat!

Percy decided that staying out of the woods for a while would be ideal for his health once he got back to camp.

 **(All I could think... know each other?")**

"Not like that!" Percy yelled when he looked over at the Stolls. He knew by the looks on their faces what they were about to say. Once everyone else figured out what was going on, the Stolls were getting looks, groans, and everybody looked a little green.

They hid once they caught Poseidon and Sally's eye.

 **(Grover's eyes... no cars behind us.)**

Percy shrugged, "Actually, there was something worse back there." Those who didn't know the full story, (basically everybody except Annabeth, Grover, and Sally) started to get nervous for what was coming.

 **("Not exactly," he... was watching you.")**

"STALKER!" Nico yelled again. Grover turned to glare at him while slowly taking his panpipes out and raising them to his lips.

Next thing any of them knew, Nico was twisted up in a tree, yelling, "Ok, ok! I'm sorry, your not a stalker! Let me down you crazy goat!"

He should have left off the 'crazy goat' bit.

Next thing he knew, he was laying at Hades feet with twigs in his hair, Grover having turned him into a lovely oak tree. Because, hey, he did it before. Hades had of course stepped in to reverse it. Hades may not be the best of parents, but he still preferred his children to be children and not trees thank you very much.

 **("Watching me?"** **"Keeping... "I _am_ your friend.")**

Percy smiled softly, but he didn't say anything. Nothing really needed to be said, and for the first time since meeting him, some of Percy's emotions were clear to Grover.

 **("Um... what _are_ you, exactly?")**

Katie muttered "Wow, rude much?"

Either Percy didn't hear her or he was just getting really good at ignoring them when he wanted to.

 **("That doesn't matter...** **friend is a donkey-")**

All the Greek demigods burst out laughing, some of the futures choking out reminders of when so-and-so back at camp called a satyr a 'donkey'. Even Chiron and Dionysus looked amused, it was after all very funny to see a camper running for their life from an angry peace loving half-goat.

Needless to say, both Grover's were indignant, and the Romans were very confused.

The Fauns could care less if they were called donkeys... at least they never said anything about it... then again if the Fauns did do anything about it they would be kicked out of New Rome and would have to take their begging somewhere else...

Triton decided to wait for the Greeks to calm down a little before continuing, and hoped he didn't regret that decision if the topic came up again.

 **(Grover let out...** **of an irritated bleat.)**

"I don't know," Annabeth started teasingly, "he does do that a lot... maybe he's just a scaredy-goat."

While the other Greeks laughed, Grover sputtered out what might have been excuses or insults back, who knows. _Grover_ just watched, he knew he wasn't the best protector.

 **("Goat!" he cried.** **"What?"...** **it didn't matter.")**

Katie nodded, "You kind of did Grover. Sorry."

"Hey! Whose side are you on?!" Grover bleated angrily.

 **(" _Blaa-ha-ha_!... for such an insult!")**

"Yes, yes they would." Both Clarisses said appreciatively. Clarisse continued, "Hey Stolls, remember that one time..."

Before she could continue, Connor had his hand covering her mouth, while Travis yelled something about what happens at camp staying at camp. The other future Greeks were too far gone at the reminder to care.

Nico and Thalia were the only Futures not too busy laughing, they weren't there. They had heard enough rumors to have an idea of what happened though.

"Sooooo," Thalia asked with a smirk, "Would this happen to be the time the two of you were chased into the..." The rest was reduced to mumbles as Travis slapped his hand over her mouth, demanding to know how she knew about it. Nico just smirked, stating that you could hear all kinds of rumors if you knew where to look. Most of the futures paled at that, they all had something that happened in camp that they really didn't want the rest of the world to know. Even Piper, Leo, and Jason.

The Romans all raised an eyebrow, turns out the Greeks got into some pretty interesting stuff at that camp of theirs. Perfect blackmail material if they could just figure out what it was.

Triton decided to keep reading before Travis Stoll got fried crispy by an angry daughter of Zeus, and Connor Stoll got impaled by an angry daughter of Ares.

 **("Whoa. Wait. Satyrs** **... Mrs. Dodds a myth?")**

Both Percy and Nico muttered that they wished she was. Hades twitched and narrowed his eyes at the two but decided not to comment on it for now.

 **("So you _admit_ there was a Mrs. Dodds!")**

Hazel raised an eyebrow, "You were stuck on that?"

"Well, yeah, I mean... I did just spend the last few months thinking I was crazy for thinking she ever existed, so... you know... when somebody finally admitted that she did... I just..." The last part trailed off into mumbles that nobody could understand. A few people turned to glare at Chiron, still not happy that he hadn't just explained after the museum. It was kind of obvious that at that point, hiding his scent behind ignorance wasn't going to work, they already found him.

 **("Of course."** **"Then...** **you'd attract,")**

Jason decided to point out the obvious, "Unless the monsters already knew where he was, which they obviously did, in which case the less he knew, the faster he would be dead."

Both Grovers and Chiron opened their mouths to say something, but then just as quickly shut them again. They hadn't thought of that...

Nico, Thalia, and Luke chuckled about something the three of them had just thought of. "Besides, have you met this guy? He attracts trouble left and right." Luke said.

Percy grinned, "And duels to the death, right Luke?" The futures just raised their eyebrows at the two of them, they knew about the one... just how many times had the two of them actually fought?

Luke chuckled nervously while glancing at Annabeth, "Yeah, those too."

The past people were also giving the two of them weird looks. Just what happened in the future?

 **(Grover said, like that should have been perfectly obvious.)**

Percy muttered something about people who won't give straight answers and smarty-pants friends.

 **("We put Mist... was a hallucination.")**

Percy growled and muttered something else under his breath. Those who hadn't ever really seen Percy ticked about something (the past kids, gods, and Romans) jumped and stared at him worried.

 **(But it was no good...** **, what do you mean?")**

"Again with not getting a straight answer!" _Percy_ burst out. Even he was starting to get annoyed by that and it hadn't happened to him yet.

 **(The weird bellowing... was still on our trail.)**

Some people shifted uncomfortably, they really didn't think they wanted to know what was following them. Those who had heard the rumors started to get excited, they could see for themselves how much of those rumors were true!

 **("Percy," my mom...** **Who's after me?")**

"Do you want that list alphabetically or chronologically?" Annabeth asked. Before Percy could say anything, Thalia got up and brandished a medium sized notebook (that looked well used) triumphantly, before reading the title out loud.

THE ENEMIES OF PERCY JACKSON

(That We Know Of)

Percy just sat there and stared, trying to find his voice. "How on earth did you keep track over the years?" He finally demanded. Nico just smirked. "We have our ways, cousin. We have our ways."

If anybody looked, they would have noticed that Hazel and Frank were a little pale, as were Percy's parents. They knew his life was... rough... but for all his enemies to be listed in a notebook of that size and for said notebook to look so worn... Hazel and Frank started thinking about their quest and what they were going to do if any of Percy's old enemies showed up, one's that he probably wouldn't remember if they went back not remembering that this ever happened. From what they had seen so far from the war games, they didn't think they'd be able to fight any of Percy Jackson's enemies, they would probably just get in his way.

Even with everything going through his head, it still didn't escape Hades attention that Nico had just referred to Percy as 'cousin'. Triton finally got snapped himself out of daze he fallen into after seeing a notebook full of his brothers enemies and decided to just keep reading, he suddenly wanted this chapter over with.

While he did that, Percy quietly retrieved the book from Thalia without anybody noticing, (not even Hermes and his children) and started adding to it, all the monsters he fought on his way from the Wolf House to Camp Jupiter.

 **("Oh, nobody much,... blood-thirstiest minions.")**

Percy shrugged, "I have worse enemies than Uncle. He's not my favorite uncle for nothing you know. Besides, all that was one huge misunderstanding."

Annabeth frowned before asking Thalia if it was sad that they considered events that led to one of the biggest wars in history to be a simple misunderstanding. Thalia just shrugged while everyone not from the future and not Greek stared at the three of them. Especially when the other future Greeks and Sally started nodding in agreement.

Hades even forgot about the 'blood-thirstiest minions' comment. Zeus even forgot about the 'favorite uncle' comment.

 **("Grover!"** **"Sorry,...** **something this weird.)**

Percy groaned. "I take that comment back. I've dreamed up some weird stuff since then."

Grover snickered until Percy pinned him with a glare and stated that Grover was the reason for most of those weird dreams. Grover was about to protest this until Percy said, "Wedding dress" and raised his eyebrows. Clarisse and Annabeth snickered, they were the only ones to have seen Grover in a wedding dress after all. Grover sputtered out some sort of excuse before turning to Triton pleadingly.

Everyone else just stared trying to figure out what Grover had to do with wedding dresses and Percy's dreams.

 **(My mom made a... white picket fences.)**

Unsurprisingly, all the Greek demigods went nuts at the mention of their camp's signs.

 **("Where are we going...** **want me to go.")**

Poseidon and Sally both sighed, that had been their biggest argument ever, unless you counted the one a few days before she married Gabe to hide Percy... although those arguments were intertwined, to an extent.

 **("Please, dear,"... You're in danger.")**

"Aren't I always?" Percy grumbled. Hardly anyone heard him though, he was too quiet. Mrs. O'Leary whined softly and nudged him.

 **("Because some old ladies cut yarn.")**

"When you put it like that, it does seem kinda... harmless." Piper said.

Gwen stated softly that sometimes the most harmless seeming things seemed the most deadly.

 **("Those weren't old... when someone's about to die.")**

"Oh, here we go." Sally grumbled, remembering the argument that was about to happen. Grover and Percy just smiled innocently at her, both stating that she knew she loved them. What most of the others found creepy was the fact that they said it in unison.

 **("Whoa. You said..** **.' Not you, _you_.")**

Most people's jaws dropped. None of them, except _Percy_ and _Grover_ , had been able to follow that, what really floored them, though, was the fact that Percy and Grover had started to silently mimic what Triton was reading, complete with hand motions.

Finally, Athena said what was on everybodies mind. "What on earth...?" Percy just grinned before motioning Triton to keep reading.

 **("Boys!" my mom said...** **us in the storm.)**

Percy, Grover, and Sally's faces all darkened at mention of that figure. Grover was thinking about how close the Minotaur was by the time he had finally found Percy, if only he had found Percy sooner... He stopped that line of thought before Percy caught on to it, Percy didn't like him blaming himself for that whole mess. Percy was thinking that if only he had actually waited for Grover at the bus station instead of ditching him, and Sally just really hated that bull for being there in the first place.

Everybody else decided not to ask what was wrong. They figured they probably didn't want to know if it could make someone like Sally look like that. _Percy_ was starting to get a bad feeling about that thing following them.

 **("What was that?"...** **wanting us to arrive.)**

All the Greeks suddenly smirked. They knew what that was about, and they were proud of their camp, besides, they all had been there and done that.

 **(Outside, nothing but... She'd meant to kill me.)**

A couple of face-palms, a small earthquake and death glares later, and everybody decided not to comment.

 **Then I thought about... our car exploded.)**

A lot of people went still, Poseidon tensed up, wanting to know what happened to his son. Even Amphitrite looked tense at the thought of something happening to her step-son, although she was being nicer to him.

 **(I remember feeling... the same time.)**

"How would you even know what each of those feel like?" Poseidon asked suspiciously. Sure, he had the results of the "physical" but...

All the demigods who had any idea of Percy's full adventures suddenly became very interested in the floor. Those who had been there for any of the events that would make him know those sensations were looking like deer caught in the headlights. They didn't want to be the ones to tell Percy's father, arguably the most powerful god on the council, what had happened to his son, or that they were there and hadn't been able to prevent it. They all made the conscious effort not to look or glare in Luke's direction.

"Umm, well, you know... life of a demigod?" Percy squeaked, sinking down lower in an effort to hide himself.

Poseidon stared suspiciously before slowly waving Triton on, noticing the demigods sag in relief that he didn't push it and thinking to himself that his son clearly had a harder life than most demigods.

 **(I peeled my... and said, "Ow.")**

"Seriously dude, you just described what it felt like and all you have to say is 'ow'?" Jason asked confused. Percy just shrugged. "High pain tolerance." He didn't say any more, although a few of them turned to glare at the corner Gabe was sitting in, half-forgotten by the crowd.

 **("Percy!" my mom...** **rain was pouring in.)**

"Ah, that would explain why you weren't in more pain." Somebody mused out loud. Nobody was sure who said it, the person who said it wasn't even aware they said anything out loud, although they were pretty sure it was an Athena person.

 **(Lightning.)**

"He had his reasons!" Percy shouted as Poseidon made to lunge at his brother, who as soon as it was said had jumped to hide behind Hera's throne. His shout stopped Poseidon in his tracks, and he remembered Percy's earlier comment on Zeus and Hades had their reasons for going after him and to not be too mad. He grumbled the whole time it took him to slowly sit back down, glaring at Zeus the whole time.

Nobody noticed the Hephaestus bunch glaring at Zeus over the ruining of a perfectly good Camaro over what was, according to Percy anyway, a huge misunderstanding.

 **(That was the only...** **I don't want you to die!)**

Some girls cooed over how sweet it was, everyone else snickered at the looks on the Percy's and the Grover's faces. They all knew that Percy meant every word of that, but that didn't mean he wanted it spoken out loud like that.

 **(Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.)**

The Grover's should really have Apollo take a look at them, being that shade of red could not be good for their health.

 **("Percy," my mother...** **look like he had horns.)**

"Hamburger!" Percy yelled again. Maybe there was some merit to Nico's statement about his sanity after all... whatever. His yell did its job and broke the rising tension in the room.

Although Poseidon and a few of the others were thinking about who this could be based off the description.

 **(I swallowed hard...** **sizzling and smoking.)**

"Yeah, don't go that way." Leo said very seriously. Percy just looked at him like, 'no, ya think?'

 **("Climb out the... see that big tree?")**

"Me!" Thalia crowed. Those who didn't know that story were, well... confused.

 **(" _What?"_** **Another flash... crest of the nearest hill.)**

"I'm sorry, but you could not catch me dead in the White House Perce. Not even as the Christmas Tree." Some weren't sure whether or not she was being serious, others chose not to take her seriously, and others caught on to another meaning behind her words. A veiled threat of what would happen if she did ever find herself in the White House.

For reasons that some of them couldn't figure out, the Stolls took out their prank book and crossed something off the list.

 **("That's the property...** **looked at the ocean.)**

Annabeth got up to go and hug Sally, Percy would have joined her, but... you know. Mrs. O'Leary.

Some of the other Greeks were a little confused, they knew Sally couldn't cross the property line, whatever was following them should leave her alone once Percy was gone, but knowing Percy... all of the futures knew the rumors of when he first got to camp, they all knew he had the Minotaur horn hanging in his cabin, but... some of them couldn't remember hearing anything about his mother being there or if she was alright or not. Of course, there was the newspaper article some of the Hermes kids told them about after a 'supply run'.

 **("No!" I shouted...** **looked like horns...)**

Some of them finally realized what the thing was. "The Minotaur." _Annabeth_ breathed. Some of the futures looked excited again. Now to see how much of the rumors were true.

Poseidon looked tense and pale, Percy and Triton were wondering if they would have to wrap him up again.

 **("He doesn't want... the property line.")**

"You guys should change that for clear-sighted mortals." Percy said suddenly, staring at Chiron as he said it, while glancing at Luke. He at no doubt that if May Castellen had been allowed to stay and live at camp after that whole Oracle business, maybe then Luke wouldn't have felt like he needed to do what he did, of course, Percy wasn't stupid. He knew that if it hadn't been Luke it would've been somebody else, that whole mess couldn't have been avoided completely after all.

Chiron looked thoughtful as he mentally reviewed the wards around camp and decided that the idea held merit.

Luke looked at Percy, he figured when Percy glanced at him that he was probably thinking about his own mom, May.

 **("But..."** **"We don't have..** **. Come on, Mom.")**

Annabeth muttered about stubborn idiots who couldn't do as they were told just once. Percy just grinned at her.

 **("I told you-"...** **hadn't come to my aid.)**

Before Ares could comment on him being weak, Percy 'politely' reminded him that this was before camp and training, now he could easily carry at least 3 satyrs up the hill no problem. None of the future Greeks looked surprised by this of course, with their 'special training', they could all do it. The only reason they couldn't carry more was because they didn't have enough hands.

The past people on the other hand, were staring open mouthed, and those that were thinking Percy was bragging stopped when they realized that he was just stating a fact, and the others were nodding in agreement.

 **(Together, we draped...** **Fruit of the Looms-)**

Those who started to shake at the description started laughing at the fact that the Minotaur was only in his underwear. Of course, that was still kind of disgusting, but at the same time it was just so unexpected...

 **(which would've looked...** **an electric sharpener.)**

"You have the weirdest analogies." Annabeth grumbled. Percy just chuckled and they had a silent conversation about how much she loved his analogies. He would have whispered it and kissed her on the cheek, but... Mrs. O'Leary still had him and his younger self held hostage.

 **(I recognized the... But he couldn't be real.)**

"Λοιπόν, ξέρετε καλύτερα τώρα, έτσι δεν είναι; Μετά από όλα, έχετε τον αγωνιστεί μόνο δύο φορές." Annabeth grumbled. ( _Well, you know better now, right? After all, you've only fought him twice._ )

Those who didn't understand her were confused, while those who did just answered back in Greek, they talked for about 5 minutes, with the gods in the room just watching on wondering what they were going on about now. Finally, Percy ended the conversation by saying in English that they were being rude to the Romans and that they should keep reading. Mostly though, he just didn't want to continue this conversation.

 **(I blinked the rain...** **want to kill you.")**

Athena just had her eyebrows raised, this mortal really was smart.

 **("But he's the Min-"..** **. "Names have power.")**

At that, all the futures turned to glare at Percy, mostly Annabeth. How many times had each of them told him the same thing, and yet he still just threw those names around like nothing. Percy just shrugged.

 **(The pine tree was still way too far- a hundred yards uphill at least.)**

Poseidon started to look more and more tense. Percy and Triton were about to help him out, but Amphitrite threw them a look that let them know that she would handle it.

 **(I glanced behind me...** **"Food?" Grover moaned.)**

The tension was gone again, to the Percy's relief. They had been trying to figure out how to ease it without getting any of the demigods with special abilities or weapons on hand using them. Both Grover's were just embarrassed.

 **("Shhh," I told him..** **. The gas tank exploded.)**

While the Hephaestus bunch moaned over the cars destruction, others celebrated the fact that it was Gabe's car. They felt like it was some small bit of justice for how he treated Percy. Either none of them heard or none of them cared about the noises coming from the corner where Gabe still went relatively forgotten.

 _ **(Not a scratch**_ **, I remembered Gabe saying.**

 **Oops.)**

That just sent the demigods off again, shaking his head, Leo went and asked his father if they couldn't build Percy a new car. It was more the fact that such a fine piece of machinery had been destroyed like that then anything else, but...

 **("Percy," my mom said...** **keeping you near me.")**

"Not a word." Percy warned, staring at Dionysus, before turning and having another three way silent 'Jackson conversation'.

 **("Keeping me near you?...** **He'd smelled us.)**

Everybody sat holding their breath, not wanting to interrupt.

 **(The pine tree was...** **like rotten meat.)**

"Between him and those stupid horses..." Percy trailed off muttering about never getting that smell out of his nose. Which of course left everyone wondering what horses had to do with rotten meat smell, well, everybody except those who had been there.

 **(He lowered his head...** **Grover down in the grass.)**

While Percy and Sally just sat there, resigned to the fact that they would have to hear about this all over again, the rest of the room sat there and stared at Sally like they couldn't believe or figure out how she was sitting here alive. Finally she got tired of them looking at her like that and snapped that if they would just read the book they would know sooner. Ignoring the shocked looks she got from that one, she leaned into Paul when he put his arm around her shoulders.

 **(We'd reached the...** **and pummeling the air.)**

At this point, everybody who knew better was forcing themselves to look away so that none of the Jackson's would see the pity in their eyes. They all knew what would happen to them if Percy saw it. None of them saw Mrs. O'Leary nudge him, or _Percy_ put his arms around his older self, trying not to cry, reminding himself that she was right there. None of them noticed Amphitrite holding Poseidon in place so he would let Paul do his job as Sally's husband.

 **("Mom!"** **She caught...** **was simply... gone.)**

Nobody dared to speak, all of them were shooting little glances at Sally, trying to figure out how she was still here, none of the futures remembered Percy ever saying anything about this, all they had to go on was a newspaper article some of the Hermes kids said they had read about Percy and his missing mother, but since it had been the Hermes kids, nobody had taken it seriously. Now, they were wishing they had at least listened to the details.

Poseidon muttered under his breath that flash of light indicated a god took her, glaring suspiciously at Hades and Zeus as he did.

 **("No!"** **Anger replaced... Mrs. Dodds grew talons.)**

The futures slowly started to smirk, they knew what was coming. Percy was mad. When Percy was mad... stuff tended to go down.

 **(The bull-man bore...** **couldn't allow that.)**

By this point, all the futures smirks were starting to freak people out. Especially since they didn't know Percy that well, so they didn't know what the futures were waiting to hear.

 **(I stripped off my...** **stupid! Ground beef!")**

"Oh, so THAT'S where the nickname came from..." Thalia mumbled in sudden understanding. She'd heard Percy call him hamburger or something related before, she just didn't know there was a history to it before now.

 **("Raaaarrrrr!" The monster...** **idea- a stupid idea,)**

"Man, your ideas are always better when they're on the spot like this." Thalia said appreciatively. Percy just shrugged while the rest of the futures nodded in agreement.

 **(but better than no... at the last moment.)**

A few of the futures raised their eyebrows in his direction, he just waved his hand dismissively, like saying, 'yeah, yeah. I know.'

Those not from the future just watched, wondering how on earth they could communicate silently so well. Not even the Romans, who prided themselves on teamwork, were this good. And Greeks were known among the Romans for kind of being a bunch of lone wolf types.

Ares was feeling like his theories were right on this groups close ties with each other.

 **(But it didn't happen like that.)**

"It never does." All the future Greeks said at once. While they turned to stare at each other, the Romans and past Greeks were all looking at them and thinking, 'Creepy...'

 **(The bull-man charged...** **and landing on his neck.)**

Everyone, even Ares was impressed. All the futures knew Percy would find some way to defeat it, but everyone also knew that despite his victory with Alecto, Percy still had zero training. Also, at least with Alecto he had a sword, here he had nothing, AND he was a twelve year old who just watched his mother vanish. Percy just sat there, thinking about this quest and what happened after.

 **(How did I do that?... knocked my teeth out.)**

"Hey!" Thalia yelled, holding her side, "That hurt you know!" All the futures went still, all thinking about the times over the years she had been a tree when they had knocked into her or when a monster they were fighting slammed into her... or even when Luke poisoned her. Percy looked scratched the back of his neck apologized.

"You can remember stuff from being a tree Thals?" Luke asked softly, thinking about how dead he was if she actually felt it when he poisoned her tree. "Yes, and yes I felt every minute of it." She snapped back. While he went pale, those who knew what they were talking about started planning Luke's second funeral while those who had no clue just decided that these futures were weird and that they should just ignore their strange comments. Ignoring the fact that these futures were actually them...

 **(The bull-man staggered ...** **only one gear: forward.)**

"Thankfully." Percy muttered. The others decided to just ignore him, thinking that he deserved at least this one little detail to go right in his life for once.

 **(Meanwhile, Grover... my own tongue off.)**

"Yeah, please don't do that." Annabeth requested lightly. Afterall, it would be hard for him to be his usual sarcastic self if he couldn't talk, and that was one of the things she loved about him.

Percy just said that he could make no promises.

 **("Food!" Grover moaned...** **with all my might.)**

"HA! I get that your insanely lucky and powerful kid, but not even you..." Ares was cut off when Triton kept reading over him, having read a little ahead.

 **(The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, them- _snap!)_**

Unsurprisingly, Ares stopped talking and just gaped at Percy. The futures were nodding as they now understood how Percy got the horn off the Minotaur when monsters disintegrate too fast to get something like that before there gone.

 **(The bull-man screamed...** **under his furry rib cage.)**

Now it the rest of the rooms turn to gape at Percy, with no training, this guy killed a Minotaur at age twelve, using it's own horn like a knife. Percy being the modest guy he is, ducked down so that they couldn't see him. This didn't work entirely though, since even his younger self was gaping at him like an idiot.

"Keep looking like that, that will be you fighting it in four years." He hissed under his breath, turning _Percy_ 's face white.

 **(The bull-man roared...** **The monster was gone.)**

Everybody released a breath they didn't know they had been holding. The younger kids were thinking how much they wished they had seen that, while the future kids were thinking that the rumors were pretty accurate, for once. Percy really killed the Minotaur with its own horn.

 **(The rain had stopped... going to let him go.)**

Some of the girls were about to comment on how sweet that was, but one look from Percy and they all shut their mouths pretty quick.

 **(The last thing I... one. He must be.")**

A few of the futures looked at Annabeth, and it was Nico who said that yes, yes he was 'the one.'

Annabeth sputtered while everyone else laughed. "That's not... I mean... At the time... Oh, would you guys just shut up already!" She finally snapped, throwing a pillow at Thalia, Nico, and Percy each. Percy caught his pillow while Nico and Thalia got it to the face, they went down still laughing. At this point the other futures were just laughing at the sight of one of their leaders so flustered and scrambling to think of something to say.

Hades was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that the Greeks treated his son like he was family.

 **("Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside.")**

"That's the end of the chapter. Who wants it?" Triton said, holding the book up. Sally raised her hand and he tossed it over.

"How about two more chapters, then dinner, then another chapter before bed and/or whatever talks or competitions are planned for tonight?" Hestia suggested brightly. She was enjoying seeing her family get along so well for once, even if it was mostly just everyone watching the demigods interact with each other.

After everyone agreed, Sally found the right page and read, " **Chapter five, I Play Pinochle with a Horse** "


	8. Chapter 8

**_Chapter five, I Play Pinochle with a Horse_**

When Sally paused, most of the Greeks started glancing between Mr. D and Chiron.

Leo, Piper, and the Romans looked confused when they asked what pinochle was. Now the past Greeks were confused on why Leo and Piper didn't know what it was, the Romans they could understand. But weren't Leo and Piper Greek? How could they have gone any amount of time at camp without being taught how to play pinochle? It was practically a requirement that they learn it after all.

Percy noticed their confusion and simply told them it was a long story, but Mr. D wasn't actually at camp at the moment, reminding those who had been paying attention to what Annabeth said earlier about him being recalled. He decided to ignore the looks from the council demanding that he explain and simply asked his mother to keep reading.

 **(I had weird dreams... The rest wanted food.)**

"You know... that's actually probably the most normal dream I've had since arriving at camp..." Percy said thoughtfully.

The rest of the kids looked at him weird, if he considered that normal... just how crazy did his dreams get? Grover just turned red. He was part of the reason behind that dream afterall... and the other stranger ones Percy had over the years.

 **(I must've woken... passed out again.)**

Zoe snorted. That sounded about right to her for a boy. A few of the demigods snickered, and the Stolls were about to say something but decided it would be best for their health if they didn't. The look Percy was giving them...

A few of the gods even shivered and had to resist the urge to hide at the look Percy was giving the Stolls.

 **(I remember lying... with the spoon.)**

While Percy promptly disappeared behind Mrs. O'Leary's paw, face beet red, Annabeth had nowhere to hide. She settled for leaning over with her face between her knees while the rest of the room cat-called or chuckled at the couple. A few comments on how cute they were was heard from the females.

Piper would forever deny thinking such things. Thank goodness she resisted the urge to say it out loud. She did not need to turn into her mother blast it!

It didn't help anyone that Aphrodite was practically hyperventilating with how cute the scene was.

 **(When she saw... summer solstice?")**

At this, several gods, Athena included, leaned forward expectantly. The demigods who noticed this watched in amusement, did they seriously not figure anything out yet? And did they realize that at this point in the book, Percy still hadn't even been told about the Greek gods and all that, meaning that he obviously knew nothing about the solstice.

Apollo and Hermes were the only ones from the council to figure anything out at this point, and they both figured that if somebody was being blamed for stealing something on the winter solstice, then the summer solstice was the most likely deadline to be set for apologies before war broke out. Both of them glanced towards Percy, who simply nodded, knowing that the two of them were smarter than they sometimes appeared and had likely already figured it all out. Well, most of it.

 **(I managed to croak,... got a few weeks!")**

Those closest could hear Athena muttering to herself. "Stolen?... important... fighting... who... what...?" To say that those who knew- the future Greeks, Apollo and Hermes- were a little confused that she hadn't figured it out yet was an understatement.

"You seriously haven't figured it out yet, Athena? I thought you were supposed to be smart...?" Hermes asked. His face was scrunched up a little as he tried to figure out this newest puzzle. While she started bickering with him, the demigods discussed this newest phenomena in their lives.

"Maybe its because she's so smart and strategic...?" Clarisse suggested hesitantly, glancing over at Annabeth for her opinion. "I mean, maybe she's just over thinking it because she's, well..."

"That could be... that could also be how Apollo and Hermes figured it out... Those two and Athena are polar opposites. I mean, we all know the two of them are smarter than they act." Percy said. The others nodded in agreement. All the demigods looked up to find all the gods watching them, Apollo and Hermes were just surprised while Athena was looking like she might vaporize Percy then and there for daring to suggest that those two idiots could ever be smarter than her.

 **("I'm sorry," I... mouth with pudding.)**

Thalia and Nico found this even funnier than the others for some reason. While the others snickered and teased Percy about it a bit, Thalia and Nico were too busy rolling on the floor laughing to even breath.

Finally Thalia managed to choke out that that was probably the most fool-proof way of shutting him up. Percy started sputtering out an excuse, but nobody could really hear him over Thalia and Nico's laughter. Finally, he just dumped a few gallons of sea water on them to get them to shut up.

While they sputtered, Percy calmly asked his mother to keep reading.

 **(The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.)**

"Percy..." Thalia started, but she didn't get very far before finding Riptide stuck in the couch on one side of her head, while Nico found Annabeth's knife stuck in the couch on the opposite side of his.

Neither of them spoke, just glared at anyone who looked like they dared say anything. It didn't take long for Sally to take pity on the demigods and keep reading, chuckling as she did so.

 **(A husky blond dude... the backs of his hands.)**

Hera beamed with pride over hearing about Argus. When Ares and Hephaestus saw this, they both turned to each other and started muttering that she never looked at them like that. Instead it was always nagging over ever little thing. Needless to say, their mothers treatment of them was the only thing those two could really agree on.

Percy smiled thinking about their camps security guard and how much he preferred Argus over Terminus any day.

Annabeth noticed the Romans confusion over who the surfer dude with all the eyes was, so she explained that he was their head of security. Which prompted Frank and Dakota to start grumbling about OCD border gods. A few of the other Romans looked like they agreed, but didn't really want to say anything that would be disrespectful. He was still a god after all.

 **(When I finally... about my surroundings,)**

"For the first and only time." Percy grumbled. After that he went on a rant that nobody could quite follow since it seemed to be in a mix of Latin, Greek, and English. Even the immortals had a hard time following, he switched languages so randomly. And they were the only other ones in there who spoke all three!

 **(except that they were... smelled like strawberries.)**

The Greeks were proud as they watched the Romans jaws drop at the description of the view. It sounded amazing, and Percy hadn't even finished describing it yet. Percy was looking wistful. He hadn't seen his home in so long...

 **(There was a blanket... it for a nest.)**

"Percy... how do you know what that feels like?" Sally asked slowly, looking over at her son, who had sunk low behind Mrs. O'Leary's paws in an attempt to avoid his parents.

Nobody missed how angry the future Greeks looked, or how Luke was avoiding looking at anyone. Or when the futures started muttering stuff that sounded really random and strange out of context, but apparently Sally got to some extent, because now she looked angry.

Apollo and Hermes were getting a bad feeling that Luke was involved in the bolt being stolen, as well as whatever bad things happened in the future that caused these books to be written.

 _Luke_ was starting to look apprehensive. He didn't know what his older self did after stealing the bolt, but it looked bad.

It didn't take long for Sally to notice how uncomfortable the younger kids looked with the looks on the olders faces, so she decided to keep reading. She had a feeling that a description of their home would cheer everybody up.

 **(My tongue was dry... a maraschino cherry.)**

"I'm hungry now... some nectar sounds good..." Apollo whined.

"One more chapter after this then we eat, remember?" Hestia reminded everyone what she had decided earlier. Apollo and Percy looked about ready to protest, they were hungry now! but decided not to when they glanced her way. She had that mothers look that said, don't argue.

The Romans looked a little put-out that the Greeks had such easy access to nectar.

 **(My hand was so weak... familiar voice said.)**

"Ah, she only spoke once and you already remember what she sounded like." Thalia tried to tease, until...

"Dude! It was Grover. She was off with Chiron and Mr. D." Percy said. Everyone started looking between the annoyed Percy and the red faced goat. Sally decided to keep reading.

 **(Grover was leaning... Not the goat boy.)**

While Grover started grumbling, Percy, Thalia, and Nico high-fived before Percy and Thalia started debating who started calling him that first.

It didn't take much for everyone else who didn't already know what the cousins liked to call the satyr. The cousins were so engrossed in their debate that they didn't notice Grover get the Stolls attention and gave them the sign. Sometime during the war, the demigods had come up with various hand signs to use for various situations, this particular one was to signal that a prank was needed. Those that noticed had a feeling that Percy, Thalia, and Nico were the next victims.

The Stolls were slightly excited to have a chance to prank the one who was now revealed to be a master prankster.

 **(So maybe I'd... some reason. And...)**

The light mood was gone as everyone remembered what happened to Sally and again had to avoid looking towards the Percy's. Luke was suddenly feeling a little guilty about what happened, it was his fault to an extent after all. He was the one to steal the Helm and Bolt, although he hadn't expected Percy to get blamed for that and the Minotaur to be sent after him as a result.

 **("You saved my life,... with dried blood.)**

A few demigods looked slightly impressed, although they felt they could have gone without the dried blood part.

"You've cleaned that thing off right?" Katie asked hesitantly.

"No, I never got around to it... Tyson did though. He had that thing shining last I saw it. He seemed to like cleaning... for some odd reason. And for somebody who was living in a cardboard box when I met him, he was pretty good at it too." Poseidon looked at him thoughtfully when he mentioned Tyson. He only knew of one boy by that name, and he was already making plans to bring his two sons together, looked like it worked and they got to know each other.

Katie and the other futures 'ahh'd' and nodded, smiling, at the thought of Tyson. They liked the big guy, he was pretty cool for a cyclops.

 **(It hadn't been...** **isn't a good idea-")**

"Nice try Grover, nice try." Annabeth said as she patted the satyr on the head softly. The other futures looked at him sympathetically. "I'm afraid that its just a lost cause. He just won't get it."

Percy raised an eyebrow, "You know I'm right here, right?"

"Yeah, we know." Thalia answered. "We also know the success rate of getting you to stop blurting out names every two seconds is currently stuck at 0%, despite the whole camps best efforts. I mean, we consented to the Stoll brothers giving you lessons on why, as a demigod, blurting out names is a bad thing. They had you for three hours before admitting defeat. They had to run off to go rob a convenience store blind just to work off their frustration."

Poseidon whistled, Sally dropped her head into her hands, the past people looked impressed, and the _Stolls_ were now staring at Percy in fear.

Percy shrugged. "I've never really had a problem with it. Besides, its not like any of them can actually come into camp unless directly summoned anyway." He answered.

Jaws dropped. Several of the futures yelled, "Never had a problem with it?!"

Clarisse continued, "What about the Fourth of July incident? How was that not a problem?" The other futures shuddered. That had not been a fun Fourth of July.

"Ok, one time where something happened, that wasn't really that big a problem, we handled it just fine..."

"I don't call a giant sea snake showing up out of nowhere and tilting the barge so all the fireworks fired AT US to be a 'not a big problem', Percy. In fact, I call that a very big problem, especially when said sea snake proceeded to attack us on the beach."

"Technically that wasn't my fault. Triton was the one leading the hunting party that chased it our way... so... yeah." Triton raised his hands in the surrender position while he stared at his half-brother, trying to figure out just how on earth something like that could happen from a snake getting away from the hunt.

"Regardless, you were the one talking about sea snakes minutes before it showed up." Katie finished the argument by gesturing for Sally to keep reading, all the futures expertly ignoring the looks on the others faces.

You could practically see the question on everyone's minds, 'how are they all still alive?'

 **("That's what they** **..."** **He looked down.)**

And so did several of the other demigods, although they were also wondering how she was here reading this if she was dead. Not to mention the fact that all the futures knew her, most of them had stayed at the Jackson apartment at some point when they were in New York and just needed a place to crash for a bit. Either for a mission back during the war, or, more recently, them just finding an excuse to go be with her while her son was missing.

The only way they could think of for her to still be alive would be if... but, nah. Percy was crazy, but not even he would... wait. Yes. Yes, he would.

 **(I stared across... huge pine tree on top.)**

A few of the Romans whistled at the description. They may be surrounded by hills and mountains out in California, but... this sounded amazing. They all vowed that Octavian was never learning where this place was. And they had a feeling they hadn't even heard of all of it yet. They also noticed that the Greeks looked distinctly proud of their reactions to hearing about the Greek camp.

'They are very proud of their home.' Reyna thought. This was something she could relate to.

 **(Even that looked...** **should look beautiful.)**

Now Hades was starting to look uncomfortable. All the gods knew that Sally didn't die, she had been taken, but that didn't stop Hades from being uncomfortable and slightly guilty at the 'death' of this boys mother. He was kind of starting to like the brat after all. His mother kind of reminded him of Maria in some ways. That and he supposed that the boy was family...

 **("I'm sorry,"... satyr in the world.")**

As one, Thalia, both Annabeth's, and both Luke's either facepalmed or started banging the backs of their heads against the couch they were sitting on. Grover looked apologetic while _Grover_ had a look on his face like he was agreeing with his book self.

 **(He moaned, stomping...** **across the clear sky.)**

"Is that you or the Styx itself? Because..." Annabeth trailed off as she looked at Zeus, waiting to see if he would answer.

Instead, it was Hades who answered. "That is the Styx, she's very old, and she doesn't really like it when she's referred to in that manner... something I can relate to." He said that last part almost as an afterthought, as though warning the demigods to stop doing it.

While Annabeth nodded thoughtfully, _Annabeth_ looked intrigued and that's when Percy begged his mother to keep reading.

 **(As he struggled to...** **tiny horns on his head.)**

Both Grovers grabbed their heads and stared at their respective set of Stolls. Daring them to do it. When that didn't seem to deter the pranksters from their plans, Percy cleared his throat while looking at the ceiling. When the four looked at him, he said one word, "Dolphins."

The older Stolls paled and the futures that weren't already trying not to laugh joined those who were now laughing on the floor. The younger Stolls took one look at their older selves and decided that whatever they were planning just wasn't worth it.

 **(But I was too...** **dissolved into yellow light.)**

"She wouldn't have been gone permanently then... obviously you found a way to get her back... but the fact that she was dissolved means she was taken. But why..." Athena was still struggling to figure out what on earth was going on. This was so frustrating! She was Athena! The goddess of knowledge and wisdom! She was smart, and great with strategy! This shouldn't be such a mystery!

She only became even more frustrated when she noticed how Apollo and Hermes were staring at her, they looked smug, with that look that clearly said, 'I know something you don't know, I know something you don't know.' The future demigods that knew about the theft, too, were staring at her like, 'when is she going to figure this out?' She briefly debated vaporizing all of them then and there... but sadly the fates themselves forbade such actions against them... not to mention how protective Poseidon could be where his children were concerned.

Poseidon, while Athena had her meltdown, was glancing between his brothers suspiciously, trying to figure out which one of them would have the nerve to kidnap Sally. It's kind of a given by the fact that she was Percy's mother that she had his favor and protection, so... Percy caught his eye and shook his head, clearly telling him to drop it. He frowned for a moment, before deciding to trust his sons judgement on this, afterall, Percy was the one who lived this whole mess... and he said that there was a lot going on here than what he could tell in the moment.

 **(I was alone. An orphan... I'd do something.)**

Many eyebrows went up, but nobody said anything. Luckily for them, they all realized that Percy had just woken up and had yet to have ANYTHING explained about what was going on and just where he was. Although many would have said something about the living with Gabe comment if not for Sally just reading on through and not letting anyone say anything.

Nobody except Poseidon noticed a couple of the future Greeks disappear for a bit with Gabe into another room. Poseidon had almost forgotten the stupid mortal was there until the two of them mentally requested stress relief with him.

 **(Grover was still...** **wasn't your fault.")**

Thalia threw a look at the Grover's that both of them expertly ignored.

 **("Yes, it was. I..** **. At least... I was.")**

"And you still are." Percy said before nodding like the matter was settled.

"Ummm, technically, Perce..." Grover started.

"Nobody cares about technicalities anymore G-man. You may be the Lord of the Wild, but you still protect stuff. Therefore you are still a protector. Besides, aren't you also _technically_ still assigned to me?" Percy asked with a smirk. Grover opened and closed his mouth a few more times before he realized that, yeah, he was technically still assigned to Percy.

 **("But why..." I...** **expecting apple juice.)**

"Everyone always expects apple juice. Why is that I wonder..." Athena said softly.

Annabeth just looked at her mother like she had grown another head. "Umm, mother... that may be because it LOOKS like apple juice." While Athena blushed at missing such an obvious fact, Annabeth and the other futures looked over at Apollo, silently begging him to please look at Athena later, something was clearly wrong with her if she was starting to space out and miss the simple facts like _that._

 **(It wasn't that... was going to be okay.)**

Sally paused in her reading to smile softly at her sons. They both looked a little red in the face, but they smiled back. After all, this was their mother, what was there to be embarrassed about?

 **(Before I knew it...** **wistful, I felt guilty.)**

"You feel guilty about the strangest things sometimes..." Thalia muttered.

The Romans and past people just figured it must've been some kind of inside joke because all the future Greeks started snickering.

Percy just scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

 **("Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste.")**

Both Dionysus and Hermes looked about ready to explode with that statement, but Percy just waved his hand like, 'yeah, yeah, I know' while Sally just kept reading.

 **(His eyes got wide...** **Bobofit a hundred yards.")**

Artemis and Zoe narrowed their eyes, but looking back on the girl's behavior they figured that she would have deserved it... to an extent. Girl needed to be brought down a notch. That and by now they knew that he hadn't been raised that way.

Sally just raised an eyebrow in his direction, proving the Huntress's theory, and kept reading when he quickly shook his head at her, as if to say that he wouldn't have really done it.

 **("That's good," he said... more of that stuff.")**

"Yeah, please don't." Was heard from several people scattered through the throne room.

 **("What do you mean?"..** **. D are waiting.")**

All the Greek demigods sighed and sat back to get comfortable, they had heard all this before, some of them more then once depending on how often they helped Chiron with the newbies, and they kind of found it to be a boring conversation. It was all second nature stuff to them by now after all.

A few of them actually looked like they were about to take a nap. They were certainly considering it. The Roman's actually looked interested in how they were going to tell Percy his heritage. As Romans, they never that problem. All Romans to come to camp had already had training with Lupa after all, so they came already knowing this stuff if they hadn't grown up in New Rome.

 **(The porch wrapped all...** **I caught my breath.)**

All the Greeks who had been about to take a nap perked up and turned towards the Romans, eager to see their reactions to hearing about their home. In all the Greeks minds, there was nowhere more beautiful on the planet.

 **(We must've been... their horses had wings.)**

Throughout the whole description of the camp, the Greeks grins only got wider as they watched the Romans jaws get closer and closer to the ground. None of the Romans missed the fact that this sounded like an actual camp rather than the military post that their own camp was, and yet the Greeks were still amazing fighters, as evidenced by the way Percy tore through the First and Second Cohorts the other night during War Games.

Reyna was also hung up on the fact that the Greeks seemed to have so many Pegasi around. She happened to own the only Pegasi in Camp Jupiter after all. And here the Greeks had Pegasi everywhere.

They all wished they could see this place sometime, although they didn't really see how they could without Octavian finding out and destroying the place. Maybe they could find a way to get rid of him during the war or something.

It took them a minute to notice the Greeks staring at them with huge, proud grins on their faces. Happy that the Romans looked impressed with their home, and proud at the thought of maybe showing it to their new friends someday.

 **(Down at the end... rail next to them.)**

Before the Greeks went back to sleep, they heard Percy groan as he remembered what his first impression of Dionysus was. They looked over at him only to see him starting to shrink back down against Mrs. O'Leary while staring at Dionysus in something that almost looked like... fear? No, he looked like he didn't want to be here for whatever they were about to hear. The Greeks suddenly felt wide awake.

They wanted to hear this.

 **(The man facing... in a trailer park.)**

There were a few minutes where nobody said anything, instead just staring between Percy and Dionysus while Dionysus glared at Percy. Clearly wishing he could incinerate the boy where he was trying to melt into Mrs. O'Leary's side to escape.

All it took was a snicker. Unsurprisingly it came from Dakota.

The only thing keeping Dionysus from striking Dakota down for starting the others twenty plus minute laughing session was the fact that Dakota was his son on the Roman side. All the same, he promised that Dakota was grounded when this was over. That shut the boy up. It still took the rest of them a while to calm down though.

In fact it wasn't until Sally decided that it would be in all the demigods best interest if they calm down, so she started reading loud enough to get their attention. They gradually calmed down as she read.

 **(He wore a tiger... even my step-father.)**

"Of course I could idiot." Dionysus muttered. To suggest he couldn't was possibly the most insulting thing. Right after how his little cousin described his appearance.

 **("That's Mr. D,"... just about anybody.)**

"How long have you been at camp, Annabeth?" Reyna asked, interested in how their Greek counterparts came to camp. The Annabeth's just looked at each other as if trying to decide who would answer.

"Uh, I've been at camp since I was seven. At this point, that was only five years and I had already been there longer then just about everybody. Especially after..." She glanced meaningfully at the other futures.

"Huh. I think its pretty safe to say that Jason is the one to claim that title at Camp Jupiter. You've been there, what, 12 years? Since you were, like, 4?" Reyna asked Jason.

"Uh, yeah... Mom gave me to Lupa when I was 3ish and she sent me to camp not long after. And I've been in the Legion ever since." Jason said. He was trying to ignore Thalia growling from where she was sitting by Nico. She would never forgive their mother for that one it seemed.

Reyna looked like she wanted to keep asking about how they got to camp, but Sally suggested that they should keep reading, and Chiron said they could discuss it later.

 **(And you already...** **choice answers _B_.)**

"Woah, woah, woah. How could the guy who constantly interrupts our pranks have a sense of humor like that? Come on!" Connor said, frustrated. The rest of the Hermes crew nodded in agreement while everyone else just stared at them.

 _Grover_ looked over and commented that that had been just the week before, the last thing they did in class before Winter break. Chiron just nodded before informing the Hermes crew that their pranks weren't quite as harmless to personal property and dignity as one concerning the answers to a quiz.

Connor just pouted while Sally decided to keep reading.

 **("Ah, good, Percy,... for pinochle.")**

"Ok, what is pinochle? Is this some camp thing we missed out on with Mr. D not being around?" Leo asked. "Or is it something I missed out on because I was in the bunker all the time?"

Chiron looked worried when the bunker was mentioned, he locked it up for a reason after all, while Percy could be seen whispering to Annabeth, probably about since when they had a bunker.

"No, it's mostly a Mr. D thing. Before he was recalled, it wasn't uncommon for him to randomly call entire cabins up to the Big House for a pinochle tournament. Regardless of what we were doing before being called. Even if we were in the arena practicing out swordsmanship. Actually, the only time anybody was safe from being called while in the arena was if they were in the middle of class with me." Percy answered when Annabeth was done explaining where the bunker came from.

"Why would he spare your classes? And why are you even teaching, swordsmanship classes are reserved for only the strongest retired legionnaire fighters to teach, not campers fewer accidents and such that way." Reyna asked, somewhat surprised. She knew Percy was strong, but for him to be in charge of teaching too...

"As for his classes being safe... he got tired of constantly being interrupted by satyr's asking that his students report to Mr. D in the Big House, so he made a bet with Mr. D." All the Greeks who were there smirked as they remembered what happened. "Basically, they had a competition, whoever won got to make one request, and the loser had to comply without question or fail, they swore on the River Styx and everything. Well, Percy won. So, he requested that Mr. D stop interrupting his classes for his, and I'm quoting here, 'pointless and time-wasting tournaments'. As for him teaching, why shouldn't he? He's the strongest in camp." Clarisse, surprisingly, said.

While the younger kids looked impressed that Percy had beaten the god at something, Dakota wanted to know what his dad had been beaten in.

"Um, ok, so... mom, don't freak out, it was his idea, not mine and well... he was the one being challenged, so he got to pick the challenge... nothing I could do about it... it was a drinking contest." Percy finally got out. While everyone stared at him, wondering how a simple demigod could beat the god of wine, the guy who practically invented drinking contests, in a drinking contest, Sally calmly handed the book to Paul, and just as calmly stalked towards Dionysus.

Everyone who tried to stop her was stopped by Hera and Poseidon. Hera because she was never going to get in the way of a mother protecting her son, and Poseidon because he was just as angry. As a result, everyone had to watch and listen for a half-hour to an angry mother beat and yell at the wine god for forcing her underage son who'd already been through enough into a drinking contest.

When she was done, it was time for Zeus to lay into his son about pulling an underage demigod into a drinking contest, AND for doing it despite his restrictions. To which _Annabeth_ answered that there was actually a loophole that they probably found to let this happen. Annabeth agreed and said that they would tell him what it was later in private, to prevent Mr. D from taking advantage of it as much as possible.

Finally, the big question was asked. How did Percy Jackson beat Dionysus the god of wine, in a drinking contest. Percy just smirked and said that everybody had their secrets. Which just made all the futures smirk. They had an idea how he did it, since they knew his abilities with water, even if they didn't know the full extent of it. Regardless, anybody who can out-drink the eternally drunk wine dude was impressive.

Only Poseidon had a feeling he did it by using his control over water to repeatedly purge the alcohol from his system. Ensuring that the entire time they were having their contest, Percy never once felt the slightest effect of the alcohol. And then of course he would have known exactly how he was supposed to act from watching Gabe for years.

 **(He offered me... glad to see you.")**

Several of the gods raised their eyebrows, they were really questioning the wisdom of sending Dionysus to watch their children as his punishment. First the drinking contest, now his obvious uncaring attitude.

 **("Uh, thanks." I... I was a satyr.)**

A few people laughed nervously while looking towards Sally as if she might attack them next. It seemed that alcohol would be a touchy subject for a while.

 **("Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner...** **ruined the image.)**

All the gray eyed people in the room started slowly turning towards Percy threateningly, but stopped when Sally kept going and they heard the rest of Percy's description, after which they looked smug.

 **(They were startling... down in a fight.)**

"I was, by the way."

"I know."

 **(She glanced at the... something like that.)**

While everyone turned to Percy, most of them thinking that he really didn't know Annabeth very well at that time, Artemis and Zoe were both thinking that the boy had been doing so well so far.

Percy had slowly been endearing himself to the two of them, both of them starting to think there was something different about this boy, and then something like this came up in the book. With that comment they started to think of him like any other boy again.

 **(Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep.")**

Over the sounds of the demigods laughter Sally was heard informing Annabeth that she didn't know the half of it. She should have seen him when he was younger. That just made those who could hear her laugh harder.

 **(Then she sprinted..** **. You may call me Chiron.)**

The Greeks decided that the interesting parts of this chapter were probably done at this point and went back to their various nap positions. Hoping that they wouldn't be roused again until this chapter was over.

Several of the parents found this amusing, especially when Percy actually fell asleep almost as soon as he got comfortable against Mrs. O'Leary's side. The Romans were actually interested to see what the Greek teacher would say, so they were a little offended by the Greeks falling asleep at this part until they remembered that some of these kids probably gave this same speech several times and could probably quote parts of it in their sleep.

Even the Grovers got comfortable for a nap!

 **("Okay." Totally confused...** **them for no reason.")**

"Didn't the others yell at Percy earlier for constantly saying the names?" Dakota asked Gwen.

"Yup, apparently he even ignored the advice when a god gave it to him." Reyna answered first. All of the Romans looked at Percy amused.

 **("Oh. Right. Sorry.")**

"Yeah, because that totally made an impact." Rachel said as she rolled her eyes. She had never gotten the full explanation, her introduction into the demigod world had come in the form of Percy swinging a sword through her torso. So she felt the need to hear this conversation despite her current position in the camp.

 **("I must say, Percy... wasted my time.")**

Sally stopped reading to turn to stare at Chiron, wondering if she shouldn't invest in some videos on positive speaking or something and donate them to Camp Half-Blood.

 **("House call?"** **"My... a leave of absence.")**

"What did you do to him?" Paul asked, wondering if maybe he shouldn't find another job. He didn't want something happening to him just because a powerful demigod happened to pass through his classroom!

"Don't worry, we simply moved him to Hawaii." Chiron said calmly. Now Paul was wishing a really powerful demigod happened to pass through his classroom. He wouldn't mind moving to Hawaii with Sally.

 **(I tried to remember...** **always the first test.")**

Thalia muttered something, and the others understood that maybe she wasn't quite asleep yet. Neither were the Annabeth's or Luke's either when they all muttered something back before shifting to get more comfortable.

 **("Grover," Mr. D...** **tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.)**

A few on the council sniggered appreciatively while Mr. D fumed. Unfortunately, he couldn't take it out on the boy, because A) he was asleep and didn't even know what was going on, and B) his mother was there. He honestly didn't know who he was scared of more. Sally Jackson or Poseidon. Both were scary when their children were involved.

 **("You _do_ know... me suspiciously.)**

"Is pinochle like, a requirement? Other than the fact that he sprung surprise tournaments on you guys all the time." Leo asked. Despite them telling all about it earlier, he was still a little confused about why pinochle was mentioned so much.

"Yes." Practically all the Greeks that were still awake enough to have an idea what was going on grumbled. The number of half-conscious demigods in the room was decreasing as they all fell asleep though.

 **("I'm afraid not," I...** **director less and less.)**

"Feeling is mutual." Dionysus grumbled. Sadly, the boy was sound asleep, so he couldn't actually tell him anything.

 **("Well," he told me,...** **landed in his pile.)**

Hermes frowned. He did not like the fact that the satyr's were so afraid of Dionysus. He knew that his son would never stand for it either. He glared at Dionysus to let him know that they would be talking about this later.

 **(Chiron smiled at me...** **bidding or not?")**

While Sally frowned, she didn't bother saying anything about Mr. D's assessment. Instead, she kept reading, not giving anyone else a chance to say anything either. In a way, she knew it was true and that she had been lucky to keep him to herself as long as she did without anything major happening.

 **("What?" I asked.** **He...** **won't be sufficient.")**

"Oh, that explains so much." Rachel said softly. When the Romans and council members looked confused, she said, "Annabeth is always telling me stories about how clueless he was when he first came to camp. Of course, he still is kind of clueless with some stuff... but him not seeing the orientation film actually does explain a lot. If he's literally just learning as he goes for the most part... its really a miracle he's still alive."

 **("Orientation film?" I asked...** **are very much alive.")**

"You know, I think it's much more believable to be trained by an immortal wolf for a while than just told, 'oh, hey, by they way. The gods are real, enjoy your life'." Frank grumbled.

Hazel laughed. "I would have preferred the wolves to what I got..." When she noticed the other Romans looking at her weird, she just waved them off.

 **(I stared at the...** **tallied up his points.)**

"Is it just me, or is that a disturbing image? No? Not just me? Ok, I'll stop now." Hermes tried, it didn't work. What he got were a few goddesses giving him a dirty look.

 **("Mr. D," Grover asked...** **chewed it mournfully.)**

Hazel had a feeling that if the Greeks were awake they would be teasing and laughing at their satyr friend.

 **("Wait," I told Chiron..** **. That's a smaller matter.")**

"Chiron..." Zeus said warningly.

"Yes, brother?" Chiron answered back innocently. Whatever Zeus was about to say he clearly wasn't going to say it anymore. He hated it when Chiron pulled the brother card!

 **("Smaller?"** **"Yes, quite..** **. You mean them.")**

"He didn't say your name, Uncle P." Apollo was barely staying in his throne, he was laughing so hard at his uncle's misfortune of his son not even mentioning him.

Apollo and Hermes both got several hundred gallons of seawater, complete with random bits of seaweed somewhere in the mix, and a crab, dumped on them. With Hermes being the lucky new owner of one annoyed crab. Hanging on his nose.

 **(And there it was...** **there was science.")**

Nearly all the gods flinched back. They hated it when science was brought up. They had lost so many believers because of it and had run the risk of fading for a while, and would have if not for constantly having children with mortals.

Sally looked up at them and smiled softly, whether in apology or in pity was hard to tell. All they knew is they preferred to think of it as an apology.

 **("Science!" Mr. D scoffed... I never told anybody-)**

"Wait, what's wrong with his name? I like it." Poseidon said. Ignoring the smug look on Zeus's face when he said that he liked the name Perseus. They had had many arguments in the past over what a stupid name it was.

"I'm not sure... he would never tell me what happened, but I think there was an incident when he was younger with some of the other children in our apartment building..." Sally said with a frown. Something that the others decided did not belong on her face. She knew it was an unusual name for kids these days, but she still couldn't believe that other children could be so mean over a _name_ of all things. Sure, kids could be pretty mean to each other, but...

Both parents turned and watched _Percy_ slide down so that only the some of his hair was visible.

 **("What will people... boy and tell me.")**

"Actually, I think mortals have come very far, considering there was a time when we didn't even know fire existed. Look at everything we have created now." Sally said with a frown towards Dionysus. Paul and Rachel joined her as the only other mortals in the room.

It was Hestia who stepped in and saved the council from a lecture on mortals and whatnot by suggesting that perhaps they should keep reading, they could have this discussion later.

 **(I wasn't liking Mr. D...** **made me hesitate.)**

Sally, Paul, and Rachel all grinned at that. They all knew that Percy had been offered immortality after the Battle, and they had been a little confused when Percy thought it sounded like a good deal.

Jason, Leo, and Piper were a little confused too, they had heard rumors around camp that Percy had been offered immortality and rejected it. And they said as much to the council and Romans. The looks on the Romans faces were priceless, as were the gods when Sally confirmed the rumors.

Percy was also slowly working himself back into Artemis and Zoe's favor.

 **("You mean, whether...** **call _you_ a myth,)**

"Actually, some of the younger campers do kind of see him as a myth. Not the ones who were there and fought with him, obviously, but the ones who came after he disappeared." Rachel said, shrugging as if she hadn't just revealed that Percy was on the same level as the gods in the eyes of those just hearing about the Greek world.

While the Romans and gods stared at her, Jason, Leo, and Piper coughed, knowing they were kind of guilty of the same thing. And they said as much.

 **(just created to... losing their mothers?")**

"CHIRON!" Both Sally and Paul were angry. Sally even more than Paul, at what they just read. "That was just completely uncalled for."

"My dear, please remember that none of this has happened yet, Percy and I have yet to have this conversation, for me, anyway..." Chiron muttered the last part as though hoping that if she didn't hear it, she wouldn't remember the time difference between the two.

"Maybe it hasn't happened for you, but it has certainly happened for MY SON!" Sally yelled before grabbing the book again and starting to read, angrily.

 **(My heart pounded...** **incinerates you.")**

A sleepy voice cut Sally off, "Ooooh, there's one we missed, add it to the tally, Thals." Nico mumbled sleepily.

"Yo, Roman guys, remind me to do that when I wake up." Thalia answered just as sleepily, waving a hand lazily through the air. Then going back to sleep.

"It would appear, that the two of them woke up just enough to hear D threaten to incinerate Percy." Apollo said, amused.

"Although, I don't think Uncle P and Sally are going to like this _tally_ they mentioned." Hermes said with a frown.

Sally glanced between the cousins with a worried frown on her face before sighing and going back to the book, deciding that she really didn't want to know.

 **(Grover said, "P-please, sir...** **itself with red wine.)**

Zeus raised his eyebrows, looking towards Dionysus, who glared back. He really didn't care what his Father thought about that right now, after all... how can he be the god of wine, WHEN HE'S NOT ALLOWED ANY WINE!

 **(My jaw dropped...** **"Old habits! Sorry!")**

"Old habits, yeah right, more like just trying to see if Chiron or myself noticed." Zeus scowled at him. Why couldn't his son just do as he's told?!

"Are you kidding me?! I'm the GOD OF WINE! You taking my wine away from me like that is like, like, taking Apollo's music away from him! Or us taking away your lightning! It's who and WHAT we are! You can't just say, 'oh, yeah. Your not allowed to have this for blank amount of time,' and then expect it to just happen!" Dionysus had stood up at some point while yelling at his father. It was clear he had been wanting to say this for years. "It's bad enough you stuck me babysitting YOUR brats," He pointed at the council who had kids at camp, "But then you just had to take away my wine, too!"

He sat back down with a huff, and Apollo and Hermes looked suspiciously proud as they applauded their half brother. They'd been wondering when the explosion would happen for a while now. In fact, so had everyone else. None of them agreed with Zeus putting Dionysus on probation and taking away his 'aspect'.

"YOU..." Zeus started standing.

The Romans, Leo, Piper, Rachel, Paul, Sally, and _Percy_ were watching all this happen with wide eyes. Even Gabe over in his corner.

"ENOUGH!" Hestia shouted, standing up. "Brother, I told you then, and I'll tell you again now. In fact, I think it safe to say everyone agrees with me. You have always punished Dionysus unfairly, but this one was taking it too far. However, this is a discussion best for the privacy of our chambers, away from mortal eyes. And those of our children's." She said, gesturing towards the demigods and mortals still awake in the room.

A few of them noticed that some of the sleeping Greeks were giving them a one-eyed glare for interrupting their naps. They didn't care who they were with, you don't interrupt a demigods nap!

 **(More thunder...** **can of Diet Coke.)**

Dionysus curled his lip in disgust. He hated that stuff. Whoever invented it clearly had no sense of taste.

 **(He sighed unhappily...** **been declared off-limits.")**

Hera turned to glare at her husband, knowing full well why that nymph was off-limits, but glanced at Hestia without interrupting Sally.

 **("A wood nymph," I...** **' Ha! Absolutely unfair.")**

"At this point, I don't know who it was more unfair to... you for being sent there in the first place, or the children who have to deal with you and your attitude." Sally said scathingly. "But I guess I can understand why you would be bitter, although that doesn't mean you have to take it out on the children. It's not there fault you are there." She finished her lecture and started reading again before Dionysus could respond.

Not that he would, he and the rest of the council were too busy staring at her, shocked. They now had an even better idea why Poseidon had fallen for her.

 **(Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.)**

Chiron facepalmed. He had been trying to get Mr. D to start acting his age around the campers for years. He had even pulled the Uncle card!

 **("And..." I stammered...** **is Zeus, of course.")**

"How is he supposed to know that when he doesn't even know your name yet? Mr. D, you know full well that I am teaching him everything he well need to know, but if he wasn't even told something, how's he supposed to figure the rest out?" Chiron asked. He was not happy with the slight on his teaching. He'd been teaching for thousands of years, he knows what he's doing, blast it!

 **(I ran through D... Mr. D were his master.)**

Hermes frowned at the last bit, but was overall pretty impressed with how Percy figured it out on so little information.

Sally noticed most of the council's surprised expressions and sighed. She hated that everybody always failed to realize that her son was much smarter than anybody ever gave him credit for. After all, there was more to life than sitting in a classroom learning facts that you would probably never use again, or need to survive on the streets. Naturally, he was the one to teach Annabeth that.

 **("You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine.")**

Dionysus grumbled again about not being allowed to have any. Zeus sighed and waved his hand in his sons direction, causing a goblet of wine to appear in his hand.

Dionysus's eyes widened as he spent a couple minutes staring from the wine in his hand to Zeus, before finally taking the first sip he had in years and practically passing out in joy.

 **(Mr. D rolled his eyes...** **Aphrodite perhaps?")**

"Ummm, please, don't joke about that." Dakota said. Mr. D switched forms for a moment for Bacchus to apologize to his son be switching back, holding his head and groaning from the headache that caused.

"I agree with Dakota. That is not something to joke about." Aphrodite said, eyeing him in concern. He was usually the least affected by the headaches...

 **("You're a god."...** **for the rest of my life.)**

"Dionysus..." Pretty much all the parents with kids at camp warned.

He simply held his hands up in surrender before going back to enjoying his wine. Which, seemed to keep magically refilling itself...

 **("Would you like...** **"No. No, sir.")**

"Smart boy." Was all Mr. D said about the matter.

 **(The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win.")**

Mr. D looked up with hope in his eyes, that was crushed as Sally kept reading.

 **("Not quite, Mr. D,"... "The game goes to me.")**

Mr. D sat back in his seat and sulked. He never won... how was it that the old centaur always won? It wasn't fair!

Chiron just smirked. Something the Stolls would be freaking out about if they were awake. As it was, he felt safe doing it. He also had a feeling Mr. D was questioning the fairness of always losing to him. Oh well, let the guy wonder for eternity how he always won.

 **(I thought Mr. D..** **. "Y-yes, sir.")**

"D, I really don't like the way my nephews are so scared of you. When you took over my sons duties, nowhere in that job description did it say to terrify the hooves off your new subjects." Hermes said. For once very serious and very angry.

Mr. D's eyes widened as he realized that he now had half of Olympus's pranking menaces after his head. If he got Percy to help him... or even just those Stoll menaces...

 **(Mr. D turned to me... your manners.")**

"Umm, so I thought they said that he always says their names wrong on purpose? Because I didn't hear his name said wrong once that whole conversation, and Mr. D said it, like, three times." Piper said, confused.

"Oh, he does. Its just with the new campers that he makes the effort to be nice enough to say their names right." Rachel explained. "Once you've been there for a few hours, he figures your acquainted enough with the camp that he doesn't need to bother."

 **(He swept into the...** **go back to Olympus.")**

Dionysus muttered again about how unfair that was, but couldn't really find it in himself to get worked up again, must be the wine talking. It always did have a way of calming him down. Which makes sense considering he's the WINE GOD.

 **("Mount Olympus," I...** **the West."**

 **"The what?")**

"Chiron, not to question your teaching methods, but... I'm kinda with the kid on this one. How's he supposed to just know what your talking about when you start talking about the heart of the West?" Hermes asked hesitantly. He knew exactly how the old centaur reacted to how he taught being questioned.

Chiron just shrugged. He had an idea why his book self was distracted. He, like Apollo and Hermes, had figured it out a few chapters ago. "My, ah, book self sounds a little distracted right now. This is not the usual speech I give... plus I usually have them watch the film." He answered.

 **("Come now, Percy... forces, the same gods.")**

"You forgot to mention the different personalities, Chiron. Remember, they were stricter as Romans. Why do you think Camp Jupiter is so militaristic?" Reyna said.

"Again, I would like to point out that all of this is in the future for me. That being said, I imagine my future self felt that too much information at that moment would be... counter productive."

 **("And then they died.")**

"Does anybody else like the way he words things? 'A big fight and the gods won'. 'And then they died.' He almost sounds like a kid whose very used to either dumbing things down so others can understand and get the point, or dumbing them down so others underestimate him." Apollo said.

Sally looked up at him with a beaming smile on her face. Happy that somebody finally recognized her sons intelligence.

 _Percy_ looked a little put out that somebody had noticed, and now they would stop underestimating him. Something that Poseidon and Triton noticed.

The others were just thinking about what he said. While only a couple of them actually recognized Apollo's intelligence for what it was, they all had to admit that he was good at reading people. They all resolved to pay better attention to what Percy said and how he said it.

 **("Died? No. Did the... And we are here.")**

"What happened to too much information at once?" Reyna grumbled.

 **(It was all too much,...** **from the waist down.)**

"Fortunately not." Chiron said with a smile.

 **("Who are you?" he... simply adore chocolate.")**

"Understatement!" Was sing-songed by all the gods at the same time. Plus Sally, Rachel, Piper, Leo, and Jason.

"I think obsessed would be a better way of putting it, dear Chiron." Hestia followed her family in stating.

Chiron turned deepest shade of red that any of them had ever seen.

 **(And then he did... human legs attached.)**

"You know, Chiron, that is actually a little creepy to watch the first time. Especially with no warning at all." Leo said, with Jason and Piper nodding beside him. Chiron just raised an eyebrow and looked away.

But everybody he was facing could see the smirk on his face.

 **(I stared at the horse...** **meet the other campers.")**

"That's the chapter! Umm, who wants to read next and who wants to wake up the demigods?" Sally asked, staring at the kids in amusement. Honestly, only these kids could just conk out like this.

 _Percy_ suddenly shot up and happily said that he would do it.


	9. Chapter 9

_"That's the chapter! Umm, who wants to read next and who wants to wake up the demigods?" Sally asked, staring at the kids in amusement. Honestly, only these kids could just conk out like this._  
 _Percy suddenly shot up and happily said that he would do it._

* * *

 _Percy_ ran out of the room really quick before anybody could say anything. Those left in the room were left to look at each other in confusion, wondering what on earth the boy was up to. The Hermes crew found themselves kind of looking forward to whatever it was.

When he came back, he had an air-horn. Sally groaned and Rachel motioned for the Romans to cover their ears.

 _Percy_ smirked before putting the horn right by Percy's ear. Those awake cringed at what was about to happen.

 _Percy_ pulled the trigger on the horn, and those closest to it were suddenly covered in bright pink paint, along with getting their ears blown out.

Everyone stared for a few minutes while the victims sat there and just stared at everyone and each other.

In those few minutes, the Hermes crew decided that they never wanted to get on Percy's bad side, because if this was what little Percy could come up with on the spot like that... and how did he even get bright pink paint in an air-horn in the first place?

Once everyone's brains caught up with their eyes, everyone, even the more serious gods, were either on the floor laughing or barely staying in their thrones.

Once everyone calmed down, which took a while because one look at the victims and they would be off again, the Stolls demanded to know if that was the best he could do at this age.

"Oh, no," _Percy_ said, grinning. "I wanted to do something else, but I didn't have the time or resources. Plus, I don't like setting up in front of a crowd."

"Ok, but how did you get the paint in the air-horn?" Luke demanded.

"Sorry, Jackson family secret. It goes to the grave." Both Percy's said solemnly.

Hestia sighed before looking at the time and announcing dinner. She also (rather sweetly too) suggested that the victims go cleaned up first. To which _Percy_ grinned and Percy groaned. Stating that this stuff didn't come off the normal way, there was a very specific way to get it off. He refused to tell anyone what it was though.

Sure enough, when he came back, he was the only victim that was clean. Well, him and Annabeth. He had told her how to get rid of it in the interest of not having an angry girlfriend to deal with. He had made her promise not to tell anyone else though. That would just ruin future pranks for both him and _Percy_ if everyone in camp knew how to clean themselves and his prank area up.

When they came back from dinner, which was surprisingly uneventful, Sally tossed the book to Paul, silently demanding he read next.

 **Chapter six: I become supreme Lord of the Bathroom.**

A few eyebrows rose around the room. Meanwhile, both Percy and Clarisse hid behind Annabeth and Chris respectively. Percy out of a sense of self-preservation and not wanting Clarisse to kill him, and Clarisse out of embarrassment for this happening in the first place.

The others who had been there thought back and remembered what happened on Percy's first day there, and they were gone. Clarisse came out from behind her boyfriend enough to glare, but it didn't help much that Chris himself was also chuckling as he remembered what happened that day.

 **(Once I got over the..** **. Another said, "That's _him_.")**

"I think that was me actually." Connor said.

"Yeah, I was too busy thinking up ways of getting that horn off him. Guy is really good at knowing when his stuff is stolen _and_ who stole it." Travis said.

Both Percy's just shrugged. Luke and Chris snickered thinking of the short time when they still shared a cabin with Percy. The Stoll brothers had snatched the horn while Percy was in the shower, only for Percy to shut off the water, come storming out still wearing a towel, and start chewing the Stolls out for touching his stuff while grabbing the horn back from them.

Nobody knew how he did it.

 **(Most of the campers... do a flip or something.)**

"Ooo, can-"

"No."

A few people started grumbling about stingy sons of Poseidon.

 **(I looked back at... brass eagle weather vane)**

Percy grumbled something about it not being a Pegasus, a few demigods laughed thinking about that time he went up, took down the eagle, and had Blackjack stand up there in its place. It took days for people to notice that the weather vane had been replaced.

What was even funnier was watching Blackjack follow Percy everywhere he went for the next two weeks, bugging him about when he was going to go get his doughnuts.

Everyone ignored Zeus's boasting to Poseidon about his son admiring the eagle. They all, except Zeus it seemed, heard Percy's Pegasus remark.

 **(on top when something... I was being watched.)**

Chiron sat up. The Oracle moved? She hadn't moved in...

Everyone else who had ever seen that mummy shivered. She gave them the creeps. The future Greeks who had all turned to Rachel and thanked her over and over again for coming into their lives. The Romans looked at them all like they were idiots. Rachel really didn't see the problem. Personally, she didn't think the old Oracle was as creepy as everyone else found it to be.

 **("What's up there?"..** **. "Not a single living thing.")**

"He wasn't wrong there." Percy mumbled, playing with Annabeth's hair and only half paying attention to what was going on.

 **(I got the feeling...** **take almost no effort.")**

"It would be better with grapes." Mr. D mumbled.

That's when everyone who had been sleeping noticed the wine in his hands and got a quick explanation.

 **(He said Mr. D had this... they grew strawberries instead.)**

Mr. D glared at Zeus, who just reminded him that this was his punishment. To which Mr. D pulled his goblet closer to him and threatened to take away his lightning, call it a punishment, see how he would like it. All under his breath, of course.

He didn't want to risk the first bit of wine he'd been allowed in years to be taken away so soon.

Hestia sighed. Mentally cursing her little brothers stupidity.

 **(I watched the satyr... kind of magic with music.)**

"No/Yes." _Grover_ muttered sadly while Grover stated it proudly. _Grover_ whipped around to stare at his older counterpart. Grover grinned.

 **(I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.)**

"No, actually, he sent me straight to the council." Grover muttered. Percy and those lucky few who had ever met the Council of Cloven Elders winced. Those old goats were not nice to their satyr.

Despite his new status as Lord of the Wild.

Even Mr. D looked apologetic about it!

 **("Grover won't get... protector. Really.")**

 _Grover_ made a sound of disbelief while Grover shot Percy a look of gratitude. He knew Percy had always believed in him, but it was good to hear it sometimes.

 **(Chiron sighed. He...** **"But he did that!")**

Percy nodded along with his book self. _Grover_ looked at him in disbelief. Getting the mother of his protectee kidnapped while being unconscious during a fight between said protectee and the Minotaur of all monsters was NOT what he called bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill.

Grover saw his look and smirked his way. One would think that knowing Percy for the half year so far at school, he would realize by now what kind of friend Percy was.

 **("I might agree with you,"... on Grover's part.")**

Percy rolled his eyes. "It's not his fault we got blasted off the side of the road and he happened to hit his head a little too hard." He grumbled. Everyone heard him though. He really didn't like those old goats.

Grover nodded firmly while a few others looked like they were trying not to laugh. They could see his point though, a couple people glanced at Zeus, it was his fault that Grover was unconscious when they arrived after all.

 **(I wanted to protest...** **second chance, won't he?")**

 _Grover_ winced. This was his second chance.

 **(Chiron winced. "I'm...** **"Oh, twenty-eight.")**

"Dude, that sucks."

"And still in sixth grade? Ouch."

 **("What! And he's in sixth grade?")**

Frank got a few strange looks and a few chuckled at the look on his face.

 **("Satyrs mature half...** **"That's horrible.")**

All the other demigods, even Paul for some reason, nodded their heads in agreement.

 **("Quite," Chiron agreed...** **Was it really so bad?")**

Thalia turned to _Grover_ and stared him down as if daring him to start thinking bad things about himself again. Honestly, that Satyr!

 _Grover_ caught her stare and burrowed himself into the couch cushions as best as he could. Beside him, Luke chuckled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He decided to ignore the way some of the other futures stiffened at his contact, mentally rolling his eyes.

Although, he supposed that with everything he did to them, they were a little justified in being a little suspicious.

 **(Chiron looked away...** **forming in my mind.)**

Hades suddenly started chanting, 'please don't think about it, please don't think about it...' over and over again.

While Percy winced and looked apologetic, Hazel turned to Nico to question him about what their Father was going on about.

"Every once in a while somebody gets it into their thick skulls to go to the Underworld and confront dad to give them their loved ones back. Which, obviously, he can't do. However, whenever somebody manages to get down there, it means more paperwork, completely reviewing and redoing the security, going through and making sure nothing important was messed with and whoever came through didn't go somewhere they shouldn't have. Stuff like that. Overall, its a massive headache for dad." Nico explained for the room.

The other Olympians winced in sympathy for Hades. Maybe they should find some way to help him out?

Percy shrunk down in his seat, mouthing 'sorry' towards his uncle. Hades just glared before glancing at Sally and thinking that it was a good thing for the boy that she apparently never actually died. Although he still couldn't figure out why he would have taken her hostage.

He would think that his book self would be wanting to stay out of he brothers fight, let them find the stupid bolt on their own. Unless something of his got stolen as well...

 **("Chiron," I said. "If...** **Underworld is real, too?")**

Hades started banging his head against the back of his chair. So much paperwork!

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover looked really guilty as they all remembered how they shoved past the security point. Yeah, that had to mean a lot more paperwork then normal.

 **(Chiron's expression darkened..** **. Let's see the woods.")**

"Way to change the subject Chiron." Hermes moaned.

Chiron looked at him apprehensively, he did not want to know what his nephew might do if he felt like he might need some lessons in diverting people's attention. The last time that happened...

 **(As we got closer, I...** **luck, but go armed.")**

All of a sudden, Percy gasped. "Clarisse!" He called, looking over towards the daughter of war. The rest of the future Greeks groaned. Here they go.

"Yeah, man! As soon as you get back and everything has calmed down, yeah?" She said, excited.

"Yes!" Percy cheered.

Annabeth noticed everyone else looked confused and just told them not to ask.

 **("Stocked with what?"...** **sword and shield?")**

"Why would he already...?"

"My book self sounds a little distracted for some reason."

"Ah."

Everyone who had already figured it out (everyone except Athena and a few of the more clueless ones like Zeus and some of the younger demigods) privately thought that book-Chiron had every right to be a little distracted.

 **"My own-?"** **"No,"...** **camp had an armory,)**

"The kind that's interested in keeping the campers alive." All the future Greeks said at once. Leo and Piper raised an eyebrow and thought back to when they asked the same thing. Now that they thought about it, made sense.

 **(** **but there was too... seem to like very much),)**

"Nope." Chiron muttered.

"It's ok, the Pegasi don't really like it either, they tolerate it at best." Percy said absently.

The past campers looked disbelieving, while the futures didn't react to him talking like he could speak with them.

"That's right, we were working on fixing it up more how they wanted it when you disappeared, weren't we?" Annabeth asked.

"You didn't finish?" Percy looked surprised.

"Well, we finished what was already drawn up and approved, but we couldn't ask them about the rest of it. Besides that, I mentioned that you were missing to Blackjack and next thing I knew, all the Pegasi were taking to the air and flying in all directions, we assume they took off to find you." Annabeth said.

Percy nodded, looking thoughtful.

 **(the javelin range, the... sword and spear fights.)**

"And the fights with Percy and Clarisse are the best. Those two, well, and Thalia when she's in camp, don't seem to understand the concept of holding back when they go against each other." Connor said excitedly. All the other future Greeks were looking excited too, they couldn't wait for those two to challenge each other formally later.

Everyone else just looked at each other, wondering what was up with those two. Were they friends, enemies, sibling relationship? They couldn't tell.

 **("Sword and spear..** **. "Not lethal. Usually.)**

"Unless its Percy and Clarisse in the ring." Rachel muttered. The others nodded in agreement. Percy and Clarisse shrugged, so they liked going all out once in a while, so what?

 _Clarisse_ looked over the two Percy's thoughtfully, the younger one didn't look like much, but the older one looked like he could put up a good fight...

 **(Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall.")**

"That's it, we're teaching you." Hermes decided suddenly.

Chiron groaned, wondering if he could use the 'I'm your Uncle you will stop this foolish nonsense' card to get out of this. It worked in the past when they were younger and he was on godsitting duty.

 **(Chiron pointed to...** **to drop the subject.)**

"What on earth is with everybody? They keep on looking at you as if you're asking dumb questions with really obvious answers!" Jason burst out. Annabeth shifted, thinking about how she reacted when Percy asked where Mt. Olympus was.

"Wow, my future self is VERY distracted right now... has the fight really gotten that bad?" Chiron murmured quietly.

 **(Finally, he showed... buildings I'd ever seen.)**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Athena demanded. It had been her children, after all, who designed them. With her approval of course. (Which meant that some of her children came up with designs, brought them to her, and by the time the rest of the gods were done with adding what they wanted, none of her children's designs had come out in the final product.)

Percy just grinned and gestured for Paul to keep reading.

 **(Except for the fact... nothing alike.)**

"Oh." Athena sat back on her throne. Trying to act like she had not just completely jumped to conclusions.

Percy just smirked.

 **(Number nine had... impossible to look at.)**

Each god smirked proudly as their cabin was mentioned, while those who didn't get mentioned scowled.

Percy saw this, "It's not like I knew what they really were. Besides, I named off the more... interesting ones." He did not feel like insulting them today.

He was in a good mood, it had been a pretty good day, he really didn't want to ruin that by insulting someone, again. Even if they didn't know about the first few times he insulted them.

 **(They all faced a... were more my speed).)**

"We should take some time, play a game while we're here. I mean, it's not like it'll really affect anything. Times frozen until the Fates decide we've read everything they want us to after all. What's a day off of reading here and there, be with the kids?" Hermes said.

While everyone ages five and under (in personality anyway) agreed whole-heartedly, Hera was very much against this. She, personally, just wanted to finish reading these books and get out of here. A few people also couldn't stop staring at Hermes for saying something so smart sounding. Something that really ticked off those who liked Hermes the most once they noticed. (AKA Percy, Hermes kids, Apollo, etc.)

 **(In the center of... the coals with a stick.)**

The gods started, glancing over at Hestia. It had been a while since they had heard about anyone seeing her.

"Ooh, only those with a really strong sense of family can see me." Hestia said softly, smiling over at the Jackson's.

Sally just smiled. Of course they had a sense of family. Nobody would be anything without their family behind them.

 **(The pair of cabins... images of peacocks.)**

The Greeks all snorted. One of them whispered 'peacocks'. There was a running joke at camp about peacocks, being the vainest and not so bright birds around, were perfect for Hera to decorate with.

In their minds, the peacock suited her perfectly.

When Hera looked at them suspiciously they simply smiled innocently back.

Chiron was trying not to laugh. He wasn't about to admit it to anyone, well, except maybe Hades, Poseidon, and Hestia (there was a reason why they were regarded as the cool siblings), but he was actually the one to start the joke. He took it as his prerogative as the oldest sibling.

 **("Zeus and Hera?"...** **stays in one or two.")**

"For good reason." Thalia and Jason grumbled.

"So cold..."

"Stupid statue stares..."

A few people stared at the Grace siblings while Poseidon and Hades stared triumphantly at Zeus. They told him not to put in the statue.

Did he listen. Nope.

 **(Okay. So each cabin...** **left, cabin three.)**

Again, people were trying to figure out how on earth they missed who his godly parent was. Some of them had even watched him stop outside cabin three! That on top of his 'issues' with water should have been a dead give away.

Percy smirked at his cousins. At least his cabin was warm and inviting. The only issues he had with it was that he was the only one in there.

Thalia and Jason glared. Why couldn't THERE dad care about his kids comfort more than his own ego like Percy's dad?

Percy turned to grin at his dad, telling him silently that he loved the place.

 **(It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one,)**

"Sometimes, it's the lowest of the low that can bring down the high and mighty." Percy whispered.

Poseidon heard it and beamed proudly at his son. That was a good way to live. He usually taught that to all his children at some point or another, somehow. He had found that his children tended to live longer if they didn't let their status as a Big 3 kid go to there heads. So, by teaching them that, there is less of a chance of them under estimating there enemies and therefore dying. His children had the longest life expectancy out of all the demigods for a reason.

In his experiance, the bigger the head, the quicker and harder the fall.

A few demigods heard what Percy said too and asked him about it, he just smiled and said maybe he'd tell them someday. Before smiling at his father and step-mother.

 **(but long and low...** **sheets turned down.)**

"That place sounds nice." Hazel said.

Percy grinned. "It is. The only problem I really have with it is when Tyson is away at the forges and I'm the only one there."

Poseidon frowned. When did Tyson and Percy meet up? Sure, he was already thinking about introducing them, but... he also wished Percy wouldn't be lonely in there. Of course if his wife heard him say that he would be dead.

 **(But there was no...** **, and brown instead of red.)**

All the demigods got really quiet as both Clarisse's turned to Percy at the same time. Chiron could be heard muttering in the background, 'oh dear.'

"Did you seriously just compare me to that... that... that... _thing_ who calls herself a human being?" Clarisse demanded in a soft tone. _Clarisse_ just glared and let her older self do the talking. After all, her older self knew Percy much better than she did.

"Um, well, ah... how about we keep reading and we can settle this tonight?" He asked hopefully.

"Don't think you're getting out of it, Prissy." She warned.

Everyone felt like they could breathe again, crisis averted. Although the older demigods had a feeling that their match tonight was going to get uglier than normal.

 **(I kept walking, trying...** **won't see any here.")**

"PARTY PONIES! YEAH!" Was heard from all of the Hermes crew who had met the ponies. So, pretty much those who fought in Manhattan. Everyone else who heard who had met them groaned and started questioning their life choices, especially when they overheard Apollo and Hermes start to quietly plan their next party with them.

"You should invite them over more often Chiron." Percy said with a grin.

Chiron looked horrified. "And see my camp burned to the ground? I think not."

Jason and Piper had to grab Leo and hold him to his chair to keep him from setting himself on fire and start dancing across the room.

 **("You said your...** **Yes, Percy, I am.")**

"Who cares about him? Now some of the other guys..." Percy muttered. Thalia and Grover nodded. They really did not like Hercules.

Zoe stared at him. Until this reading, she had thought all boys wanted to be just like Hercules.

Chiron smiled bitterly. Hercules had been his greatest achievement, and his greatest disappointment.

 **("But, shouldn't you be dead?")**

"I suppose that's one way to have a conversation..." Katie said.

 **(Chiron paused, as if... that I'm still needed.")**

"You are." Was echoed through the room. Chiron smiled around at them all.

 **(I thought about being... to Wish For list.)**

Athena gave him a huffy look while most of the other guys muttered in agreement. They wouldn't want to teach for three thousand years either.

Now though, Percy was also thinking about those they lost in the Titan War. He'd been the one to teach them. And then he'd been the one to watch them die. He just couldn't imagine watching that happen over and over for three thousand years. It was hard enough watching it once when he'd only been teaching for a couple of years.

 **("Doesn't it ever get...** **boring."**

 **"Why depressing?")**

Percy shook his head and muttered something that nobody caught, but they didn't quite like the look on his face.

 **(Chiron seemed to turn...** **is waiting for us."**

 **The blond girl)**

"How long in this book am I going to be 'the blond girl'?"

"Er... Paul read!"

 **(I'd met at the...** **about how much I drooled.)**

"Actually, I was debating whether or not you would actually be my ticket out of there." Annabeth admitted softly.

 **(I tried to see... mean, literally Greek.)**

"No duh it is Greek, stupid, brainless..." She dissolved into random mutters. It would seem she had already forgotten the simple fact that in this point of the book, Percy was still very much in the dark about all things demigod.

"Either she's just this worked up about not being to figure out what's going on when Hermes and Apollo clearly can, or your mother has finally gone off the deep end of the pier, Wisegirl." Percy said, just loud enough for the other demigods and Chiron to hear.

Annabeth nodded mutely while staring at her mother in confusion before glancing over at her younger self, they caught each others gaze and nodded to each other.

They would have to keep an eye on their mother during this reading.

 **(There were pictures..** **."Make yourself at home.")**

"Make yourselves at home."

"More like pull up whatever..."

"...bit of floor you found..."

"... that happened to be enough room..."

"...for you to sleep on." All four Stolls grumbled in turns.

"Why can't you guys all be the responsible thousand some year old beings that you are and just claim your kids already?!" ALL of Hermes children turned to the council.

A few of the gods jumped, not quite expecting that, while the Greek demigods all raised an eyebrow.

They'd been expecting a Hermes child to say something at this point, but they hadn't expecting them to say it all at the same time.

Hermes snorted and looked up at the ceiling when people looked over at him. "I've been trying to get them to claim their kids for centuries. What I find ironic, is that you all claim Apollo and I to be the most immature and irresponsible ones here, yet when it comes to our kids, we are the only ones responsible enough to actually pay any attention to them. Well, besides Uncle P and Uncle H, but they also didn't get many kids to take care of even before this stupid oath of Father's. Well, at least not without Zeus striking them down as soon as they showed any sign of power." He frowned. "For that matter, why is it that Uncle P is the only one not petty enough to kill Uncle H and Father's children? And even then, Uncle H only goes around killing them if they seriously did something to offend them. With one exception."

On the last bit he glanced at Thalia, although she just shrugged and said that Hades had already apologized to her for that and explained why. And really, that was Zeus's fault.

Everyone stared at Hermes outburst. They knew he'd been asking them to claim their kids, but they didn't know that he was this bent up about it...

Hestia smiled at the sons of Hermes and suggested to the disgruntled boys and their father that perhaps these books would show them just how wrong they really were in ignoring their children. She couldn't quite explain it, but she had a feeling that the over-crowded nature of cabin 11 seemed to have made a very large impact towards causing these books to be here.

 **(Out of all the cabins... the emphasis on _old_.)**

All the Hermes kids shrugged. "We try to keep it as fixed up as possible, but with all those kids in there..." _Connor_ said.

"The more kids there are, the harder it is to keep track of them, which means its harder to find time to do anything other than making sure everyone is where they should be for training and the like." _Luke_ said.

Hermes glared at the other gods, the ones who currently had multiple unclaimed children in his cabin. Maybe now they would see how much not bothering to claim their kids hurt everyone. And not just their kid. It hurt his too, because his kids were the ones taking care of them, trying to tell them that their parent does care, their just busy... trying to find time to be with everybody in an overcrowded cabin where there was barely any room to walk, let alone sleep.

 **(The threshold was...? A caduceus.)**

"Wow, he knows something." Athena muttered. Whether or not she meant for that to be heard was a mystery.

All the Sea people and Annabeth turned to glare at her, she ignored them and pretended she hadn't said anything. Everyone else just glanced around at each other before turning to their times respective set of Stolls. Giving them the look.

 **(Inside, it was packed... up an evacuation center.)**

"Is it really that bad right now?" Apollo asked softly.

Hermes nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak. Luckily, Apollo was the only other one who claimed his kids on a regular basis. Sure, a couple of them slipped through the cracks, so to speak, on occasion. But he claimed them.

 **(Chiron didn't go in...** **it at enough schools.)**

Sally sighed sadly. She really wished her boy had been able to stay at one school. Well, at least he wasn't kicked out of Goode. No, instead he was kidnapped. She turned to glare at Hera.

The one who claimed motherhood to be her domain, yet she took away a mothers boy without even considering how it would effect the mother. What she had been told of Jason, she wasn't the only one to have her baby boy taken either. How ironic.

 **("Well?" Annabeth prompted...** **"Undetermined."**

 **Everybody groaned.)**

Hermes and sons sighed sadly before fixing those with kids with looks that made them think a prank storm was coming on. Hermes gestured for his sons to come over to his corner and they started whispering to each other.

Everyone else watched in fear before Paul hesitantly started reading again when it was obvious they were going to take a while.

 **(A guy who was..., right over there.")**

"How big was the space Percy?" Apollo called. He wanted the others to see just how bad it was in that cabin space wise. Since Hermes was too busy at that moment to ask.

Percy shrugged. "It was just big enough to curl up if I didn't want to be sticking an elbow in my neighbors sides."

"Oh, thanks for that, by the way." Chris piped in from the Hermes Planning Corner. He had been one of Percy's floor neighbors. He'd already had to deal with the person on his other side constantly invading his space at night, and had been using the space they gave Percy to sort of escape. He had been expecting to have it coming from both sides until that first night when he saw Percy curl up as tight as he could and leave as much space between himself and the two on either side as he could.

"No problem. You looked like you were having enough problems with Micheal on your other side."

"Yeah, waking up with somebodies elbow in your face every morning is not fun. Not to mention just plain uncomfortable." _Chris_ nodded in agreement. Summer ending was one thing he looked forward to for that reason alone.

While those who had unclaimed kids in that cabin looked horrified, Apollo grinned. He couldn't tell if Percy and Chris caught onto what he was doing or if they were just talking about it, but they did it all the same.

It was then that Hermes asked the Percy's to join them in the corner. Their grins as they walked over made many in the room cower in fear and start praying with all their might that they weren't the targets.

 **(The guy was about... an old knife slash.)**

Both Luke's looked over and winced, along with Hermes. "More like a claw." _Luke_ beckoned for Paul to keep reading.

 **("This is Luke,"... she was blushing.)**

Both Lukes looked over again and raised an eyebrow at their respective Annabeth. Neither of them were meeting anybody's gaze and stared at the ground. Athena revisited her earlier thoughts that Luke would be a much better match for her Annabeth.

 **(She saw me looking...** **the god of travelers.")**

"And you all abuse that generosity way too much." Apollo said. He had sat with Hermes through many rampages after he visited camp to check in and saw how crowded the cabin was. He really didn't appreciate being used and taken for granted like that.

 **(I looked at the... Minotaur's horn.)**

Everyone was suddenly reminded of what happened to Sally and how Percy, like so many others, came stumbling into camp with nothing but the clothes on his back. Unlike the other kids though, he had to watch his mother 'die' right in front of him.

 **(I thought about... the god of thieves.)**

'And yet, he's the only person we've never managed to steal from.' All of the future Hermes kids thought.

And it was true. Somehow, Percy always knew if any of his stuff went 'missing' and conveniently had ways of getting it back within the hour. They didn't know how he did it.

 **(I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious,)**

"Those are the Unclaimed." Katie said sadly. None of the Claimed kids at camp liked watching it happen.

A kid comes in, they are told that they are the children of the gods, they hope to meet their other parent, and then... that other parent never even acknowledges that they exist.

It was also the reason why so many of them joined Kronos. Kronos offered them something their own parent never gave them. A chance to prove to the gods that they existed. That they weren't about to be forgotten.

Chris and Luke glanced at each other. They had both joined Kronos because both felt that the gods just didn't care and felt the world would be better without them.

 **(some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.)**

Hermes looked over from the planning corner. "My kids! You better believe they're just waiting for the chance."

 **("How long will I be here?" I asked.)**

"Not long." Most of the futures chorused.

"Your's was actually the fastest claiming I had ever seen. Well, outside of Hermes and Apollo, but those two are different. Even I took a couple of months and I already knew who my mom was. However, because she hadn't officially claimed me I had to stay in cabin 11 anyway." Annabeth said.

Hermes was livid that Athena had quite literally abandoned her daughter for those few months. In not claiming her, Athena sent a message to everyone else that she didn't care. Her daughter knew and told everyone else who her mother was, her mother still refused to claim her. That was unacceptable.

 **("Good question," Luke...** **"I've already seen it.")**

All the girls shook their heads at the cluelessness of the male gender.

 **("Come on."** **She...** **than that."** **"What?")**

Thalia muttered, "Boys." All the boys shot her mock wounded looks.

 **(She rolled her...** **some bull guy-")**

"Kid, I love how you put things sometimes. You just make things that were huge out to not be a big deal at all." Hades said, shaking his head.

Amphitrite spoke up then, "I think that's actually a Poseidon thing. Both he and Triton do the same thing sometimes, it drives Delphin insane." The four of them (Poseidon and his three children in the room) looked at each other sheepishly while everyone else laughed. They didn't think they were that bad.

 **("Don't talk like that!...** **"To get killed?")**

"Guys got a point there." Most of the demigods in the room muttered.

 **("To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?")**

"To survive." Thalia and both Luke's said, all staring at Annabeth with blank looks on their faces. Both Annabeth's made a face at them.

"Don't look at us like that, we taught you better than that. It doesn't matter how good you think you are if you don't live to see tomorrow." Luke scolded. _Luke_ was giving _Annabeth_ a similar one across the room.

Annabeth bit her lip and looked down at the ground. Even now, years later and after everything that happened, she still hated disappointing those two.

 **(I shook my head..** **. But they don't die.")**

"That clears the whole thing up." _Grover_ muttered.

 **("Oh, thanks. That clears it up.")**

 _Grover_ blinked while the others around him laughed.

 **("They don't have..., they re-form.")**

"Unfortunately." All the demigods muttered. They really wished the monsters would stay dead. Especially since at the moment, with the Doors being open and all, they had a habit of coming back almost immediately after killing them. It was very annoying.

 **(I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword-")**

"Prissy, only you could 'accidentally' kill something." Clarisse said, shaking her head.

"Thanks, its a talent of mine." He grinned.

 **"The Fur... I mean... very, very mad.")**

"Made her more than mad, I'd say. She keeps a training dummy in Percy's likeness in her room. She destroys it about twice a day, if she's in a good mood." Nico said cheerfully.

Percy groaned and put his head in his hands saying, "Thanks Neeks, I really wanted to know that."

"You're welcome." Nico chirped. A few people looked at him weird, he was in an oddly good mood today... in fact, he was almost acting his age for once... then some of them noticed the blue cake in his hands and the futures remembered how Percy had gotten him hooked on his mom's baking sometime after the Labyrinth fiasco. Kid took to it like junkies took to drugs.

Sally and Poseidon had gone pale when Nico said just how much Alecto really hated Percy, and Poseidon promised himself to get Percy under the Sea as soon as possible for higher quality training than Chiron could really provide for a demigod with Percy's quality and quantity of enemies. What had before been a passing thought was now a plan.

 **("How did you...** **Hades' torturers, right?")**

Hades shifted a little in his seat. "Yes and no. While their main duties technically are in the fields of punishment, they actually spend very little time there these days, only really paying attention to the special cases." He refused to elaborate on what they did for him if they weren't in the fields.

He wasn't about to tell them that they now did the majority of the paperwork so he could have time to actually oversee his kingdom, or that he suspected them to be in charge of Nico's schooling in the future.

Nico grimaced and shifted when his father mentioned the Furies having duties outside the fields. The main one being his schooling when they weren't helping keep the paperwork to a manageable level.

 **(Annabeth glanced... and swallow her.)**

Hades suddenly facepalmed, muttering about trusting the magical border and over superstitious demigods.

The others looked amused. You would think that she would have more faith in the barrier considering her friend was the one maintaining it.

 **("You shouldn't call them by name,)**

Everyone glanced at Percy before deciding that it wasn't even worth it anymore. At this point, everyone decided to just let him get eaten because he happened to use a name it was hit when his back was turned.

 **(even here. We...** **bunks right over there.")**

"There's an idea... if I can't get them all to claim their kids, then maybe we can move most of the kids to the empty cabins... free up space and then those who like their cabins empty would be the ones getting on their case about claiming their kids..." Hermes muttered running his hand over his face.

Those with empty cabin did not like this idea and got very vocal about it. Hermes was not happy.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STUPID PROUD EGOS! Having that many kids in that small space is a health and safety risk for one thing, for another they are just kids who don't deserve to be crowded together like that just because their parent can't be bothered to have anything to do with them. The only one of you who has a legitimate excuse to keep their cabin empty is Artemis, and that's only so its ready for when the Hunters come around! CLAIM YOUR KIDS!"

"As for the health and safety risks, I believe we've told you all this before. The more crowded the living conditions get, the more chance the kids have to get sick and the faster it will spread to the others. And if there were ever a fire, its more than likely that not all the kids will make it out. There will be too many other kids running for the door at the same time, with too much stuff spread out on the ground for them to trip on and then potentially get trampled. But, hey. If you want your kids dying because you couldn't take two blasted seconds out of your day to snap your fingers and claim them, go right ahead." Apollo added.

He remembered the epidemic that swept through camp a few years ago, a few kids got fevers so high they didn't make it. That epidemic happened to start in the Hermes cabin. One kid got really sick, it wasn't caught in time, and all his floor neighbors got sick too. From there, it was wildfire. Since then, the Hermes cabin went through weekly health checks to make sure nobody even had a cold. He knew for a fact that _Luke_ did his best to make sure that, except for at night, not more than half the cabin was in there at the same time. It wasn't always possible though.

The others pointed out that there were measures in place to reduce the risk, all the demigods shouted, "THOSE MEASURES SHOULDN'T BE NEEDED!"

Paul finally shook his head in disgust at how these gods were treating their kids and started reading again.

 **(I pointed to the...** **for me to get it.)**

"Wow, she didn't know that you didn't watch the video, did she?" Jason asked, amused. She was treating him like he was really slow.

Annabeth blushed, no she really hadn't. She thought he was particularly dumb for not remembering this stuff so soon after watching the video.

 **("My mom is Sally...** **other parent. Your dad.")**

"Oh boy, this is going to be a confusing conversation for a while, huh?"

 **("He's dead. I never knew him.")**

Poseidon winced. That's not what any caring parent wants to hear.

 **(Annabeth sighed...** **You know him?")**

"No/Yes." _Annabeth_ and Annabeth said at the same time.

Everyone turned to Annabeth in surprise. Including Percy, he didn't remember her being so close to his dad before he disappeared. Annabeth just shrugged and smiled over at Sally.

She wasn't about to tell the room that Poseidon had disobeyed Zeus's orders after shutting down Olympus to come out and visit Sally, it was just coincidence if she happened to be visiting that day too.

 **("No, of course not."...** **you weren't one of us.")**

"The way you put that could actually make it sound like a cult or something." Somebody noted.

 **("You don't know..** **. Probably ADHD, too.")**

"You know, Annabeth, those are things that people don't like just having thrown in their face by a total stranger. Especially these days when most kids will bully for those kinds of things."

Annabeth made a face and looked away, unfortunately, she looked towards Percy, who's eyes were shining with amusement.

 **(I tried to swallow...** **through the same thing?")**

"Not me, everybody else." _Annabeth_ muttered. _Luke_ reached over and clapped her on the shoulder.

 **("Most of the kids...** **didn't know where to start.)**

"Starting with, 'what's a half-blood'." Percy muttered. Those who heard him snickered. They all found it ironic how the guy who really had absolutely no idea what was going on more than half the time was the strongest of them and the one that everyone looked up to the most.

 **(Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!")**

Clarisse groaned. This was possibly the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to her in a very long time.

A few others snickered.

 **(I looked over. The...** **or something?")**

"For the third time that day..." Several people muttered. Both Clarisses shrugged, so what if they liked to take care of their weapons. It was good practice.

 **("Sure, Miss Princess,"... with it Friday night.")**

The Romans, Percy, and Nico all glanced over to see Gwen pale. Percy leaned towards her and said, "Nobody actually got ran through. We just like to talk a lot sometimes."

Gwen shot him a grateful look while the Greeks looked at him in confusion. He just waved them off and looked to Paul to keep reading.

 **(" _Erre es korakas!")_**

A few of the councils eyebrows rose, that was not usually a curse used very casually, Annabeth must have been either really annoyed that day, or she and Clarisse really just didn't like each other.

 **(Annabeth said, which...** **through on the threat.)**

Clarisse muttered something about over observant younger brothers. Those few who heard exactly what she said decided it would be wise not to say anything.

Sometimes, they still couldn't figure out their relationship, sometimes they acted like friends, sometimes enemies, sometimes argumentative siblings.

 **(She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?")**

"Hey!" Percy said.

They all looked at him, "It's true!" They all said.

"You were kinda runty when you first got to camp." Luke said. Percy gave him a dirty look.

 **("Percy Jackson," Annabeth...** **the bad smell.")**

Ares slowly turned to Percy, wondering if the kid had a death wish. Percy looked over at him and smirked, along with Grover and Annabeth. They were both thinking about a certain fight on the beach in Los Angeles.

A few people looked at their smirks after they were done getting themselves under control and wondered if all three of them had death wishes. Then they thought about it some more and decided, that yes, yes they did have death wishes.

 **(Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy.")**

"That's where the nickname came from? The Toilet Disaster? Are you kidding me?" Travis asked. Clarisse and Percy shrugged.

 **("Percy."** **"Whatever...** **of it, wise girl.")**

"And that's where Wise Girl came from. At least Prissy was original." Connor said. Percy, Clarisse, and Annabeth gave him a dirty look.

 **(Annabeth looked pained... I had to earn my own rep.)**

"That didn't exactly go so well in the beginning, did it?" Percy mused. Annabeth and the other future Greeks shook their heads no.

"You looked kind of pathetic struggling there." Katie offered. Percy just gave her a look.

 **(I handed Annabeth my...** **had hands like** **iron.")**

"Like we said, looked kind of pathetic." Percy gave them all a dirty look.

 **(She dragged me into... to afford classier johns.)**

"I'm so glad you fixed that when we started redesigning the new cabins." Katie said.

Annabeth smirked. "Your welcome."

 **(Clarisse's friends were...** **'Big Three' material,")**

Poseidon sat back in his throne and cleared his throat, looking absently at the ceiling. Clarisse glanced over and paled while the Sea people tried and almost failed to hold in their snickers.

They could see the amusement shining and the twitching lips as Poseidon messed with the daughter of Ares. Most of the people in the room missed it though and wondered how much Poseidon was really offended.

 **(Clarisse said as she..** **. It reeked like rusted pipes)**

"Huh, you know, I forgot how out of shape the plumbing used to be." Annabeth muttered.

"You mean, we finally got to replace those old pipes?" Chiron asked. He had been asking for the funds for basic maintenance like that for years.

"Well, lets just say, that, when you have a son of Poseidon in camp who tends to blow up the plumbing whenever he gets mad... yeah the pipes have been replaced. At least five times since Percy came to camp." Annabeth smirked while Percy groaned and hid his head.

"I said I was sorry for that!"

"You blew up the camp!"

"Besides," Percy continued as if no one said anything. "The first time was before my claiming while the other was when I was still getting used to my water powers. How was I supposed to know they would react to my emotions like that!"

A few of the futures once again wondered why they had problems placing him into a cabin. Seriously; water powers, losing control of said powers when angry, the Pegasi almost starting to worship him when he went anywhere near them... now that they thought about it, they were idiots.

Poseidon shook his head and started watching Ares for his reaction to what was happening. He was oddly silent about his daughter's seemingly overpowering Percy... although by the look on his face, he had already realized that this wasn't about to end well for his daughter considering all the water in those pipes.

Everyone from the past stared at him. Paul decided to keep reading.

 **(and, well, like what goes... go into that. I won't.)**

The Sea people started leaning forward in their seats in anticipation. Clarisse shrunk further into her seat while Ares collapsed muttering something about upstart sons of Poseidon who can control water.

(Then something happened... screaming behind me.)

While the Sea people were quietly discussing his power and extent of his abilities, everyone else who couldn't control themselves were dying laughing.

Poseidon was also keeping an eye on Zeus to make sure he didn't start acting like his paranoid self again, he really didn't want to have to warn his brother, AGAIN, to stay away from his family.

(I turned just as... into a shower stall.)

Clarisse was rubbing her chest, remembering how much that hurt. She'd gone to Apollo's cabin later and was told she had some bruised and a cracked rib from that. Will saw her and winced, he remembered helping Lee patch her up later this day, he just hadn't known what it was from.

What nobody else knew was that Percy had come to find her later on when he managed to get away from the Hermes cabin to make sure she wasn't too badly hurt from that.

 **(She struggled, gasping,... being washed away.)**

"I'm so glad we caught that on camera."

"I know, right!" Travis and Connor high fived.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Clarisse screamed. The Stoll brothers looked up and remembered just who was in the room with them, they got up and ran to hide behind their fathers throne while Clarisse demanded to know who else had known about this.

All the future Greeks who had been there hesitantly raised their hands, Clarisse looked at them like they just signed their own death warrants.

The Romans looked on amazed, the Greeks were very... close, with each other. After all this time, not one of them ratted the Stoll brothers out for that video, they all kept quiet, even Percy who at this point in the book had just met everyone. They also all seemed to be constantly aware of where each other was, of what they were all doing. They didn't need to fully explain what they were thinking to each other, just make a random vague comment and everyone else immediately understood. Looking around at each other, they realized that they could only wish that the Romans became that close with each other.

Paul laughed softly, shaking his head before he found his spot and started reading again.

 **(As soon as they... as it had started.)**

Percy's eyes glazed over slightly and he shuddered a little as he remembered, outside a corral full of carnivorous horses, inside Mt. St. Helens. Two very disastrous times where the water hadn't shut off when he wanted it to. He again promised to himself that he would never lose control like that again.

"Perce?" Percy looked up to see the rest of his friends looking at him in concern, he smiled and waved them off, saying it was nothing.

None of them missed how hollow that smile looked.

 **(The entire bathroom...** **water on my clothes. Nothing.)**

Those Greeks who had spent the week and a half between the Bathroom Incident and the game trying to figure out Percy's parentage started banging their heads against their couches. They could not see how they could have possibly been so blind as to not see his parentage.

 **(I stood up, my...** **she smelled like sewage.)**

Clarisse winced, "Yeah, my siblings were not happy about that, the smell wouldn't come out for a week." She grumbled.

Leo winced, he could relate to smelling like sewage for a while. Piper, Jason, and Hephaestus glanced at him, concerned.

 **(She gave me a...** **, Clarisse? Close your mouth.")**

Jason whistled, "You do have a death wish, this is going to one interesting trip, isn't it?" He asked those who would be going to Rome. Everyone else besides Percy nodded, Percy just pouted and muttered something about not knowing him for two days and he's already a traitor.

Hazel paled a little, she wasn't too sure about how helpful she could be, after all, physically she was the youngest. She wasn't counting the time she spent dead.

 **(Her friends had to...** **for dousing her.)**

"A bit of both, that and I was thinking about something." Annabeth said. Percy rolled his eyes, he knew what she was thinking about. He still wasn't quite sure if he should like that first game or absolutely hate it.

 **("What?" I demanded...** **capture the flag.")**

Percy suddenly leaned over to whisper into Annabeth's ear. Whatever he told her, she paled and looked over at Poseidon before glancing away again.

Why wouldn't she be nervous about that game being read? She had literally used Percy as live, human bait for a bunch of Ares kids who had already decided he was the enemy!

While this was happening, a few futures glanced over at _Luke_ , remembering the Hellhound, and wondering just how long he'd been with Kronos before this Winter Solstice meeting.

"Alright, who's reading next?" Paul called, holding up the book.

Leo immediately jumped up to grab it, but Piper got there first, she didn't even want to know how much of the story Leo would 'improve' as he went.

Hestia shook her head before announcing this next to be the last chapter for the night.

 **Chapter seven: My Dinner Goes up in Smoke**


	10. Chapter 10

_Leo immediately jumped up to grab it, but Piper got there first, she didn't even want to know how much of the story Leo would 'improve' as he went._

 _Hestia shook her head before announcing this next to be the last chapter for the night._

 _ **Chapter seven: My Dinner Goes up in Smoke**_

There was a sneeze from the corner, and when people turned to see who it was, they were shocked to see seven people sitting in the corner. All of them were wearing hoods, so you couldn't see their faces, but they were sitting in a way similar to the other future kids, like they were relaxed, but would be in action within a second if need be.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Zeus thundered. "HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE!"

"You didn't know?" _Percy_ asked shocked.

"Yeah, they've been there the whole time." Percy continued. Poseidon, Amphitrite, and Triton all nodded in agreement.

"Why didn't they say anything when we first got here? And why didn't any of you say anything?" Athena asked, confused.

They all shrugged. "We saw them get a separate note from the rest of us, when they didn't say anything, we figured they were ordered to hide their identities." Percy said. The others nodded.

When everyone turned to the Mysterious Seven (MS), they nodded and indicated that Percy was correct. They didn't speak though, if they spoke, they ran the risk of their voices being recognized, and the Fates told them to keep their identities hidden for as long as possible. The Fates wanted the people in the throne room to focus on the books about the Titan War right now. They would reveal who they were when they started the books about the Giant War. When they got to that point, the Fates would send the Seven who had yet to fight the Giant War back to their times, leaving the Argo II crew to explain stuff like the _Seven_ were now.

 **(Word of the bathroom... much dripping wet.)**

"Sorry about that... again..." Percy said.

Annabeth smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek.

Aphrodite squealed in joy at the sight.

 **She showed me a... the top fast enough.)**

The Romans and _Percy_ looked impressed with the climbing wall. _Percy_ was actually bouncing in excitement at the thought of climbing that thing. Percy had his hand on his mother's arm in an effort to keep her calm so she didn't freak out over how dangerous the wall sounded.

"It's either we learn how to dodge and stuff on the wall or we learn how to dodge in the middle of a fight against a monster." He whispered in her ear.

 **(Finally we returned to...** **"It wasn't my fault.")**

A few people snorted. "It's always your fault, Prissy."

Percy pouted.

 **(She looked at me... with the plumbing.)**

Everyone burst out laughing. Several of the more immature readers fell out of their seats and onto the floor. Everyone who wasn't too far gone noticed that the MS had fists stuffed in mouths to keep themselves from joining them all on the floor. Percy's face was slightly red.

"You, good sir, have..."

"...an amazing way with words." The Stolls said when everyone calmed down a little.

The Percy's both stood up and took a bow.

 **("You need to talk..** **. I'll ask Chiron.")**

Leo frowned. "I'm sorry, did you just call Rachel a 'what'?"

"This all was before me. Percy doesn't even meet me until the... third book?" Rachel asked.

Percy thought about how the books would go if it was one quest per book, and nodded. That would be the third book.

 **(I stared into the... answer for once.)**

Percy sighed. "Story of my life." He grumbled.

 **(I wasn't expecting... a long-lost friend.)**

"You are kind of like a long-lost friend with them... I always knew every year when you and your mother went to Montauk Beach because the naiads and fish in that area would go crazy spreading the word that they saw the 'young Lord and Lady'." Poseidon said, shaking his head.

"Ah, I was wondering where those rumors were coming from..." Triton said. "If you didn't want his scent to grow, or monsters to be attracted, then why...?"

"Because the longer I kept them away from the sea, the more restless they got. Obviously I limited it to once a year, that was all I could afford too, but... they were always calmer after a trip to the ocean." Sally explained.

Amphitrite nodded. "That would be the Sea in their veins calling to them. I don't know how everybody else's domains work with their children, but children of the Sea are always called to it."

Poseidon nodded in agreement. "It can also affect my children's moods."

"Yes, I always knew when there was a hurricane somewhere before they had it on the news because the children would be especially cranky." Sally sighed.

"Sorry mom."

"Not your fault dear. Its his." She said, glaring lightly at Poseidon. He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. Everybody noticed that they saw Percy doing the same thing.

 **(I didn't know what...** **are terrible flirts.")**

Poseidon, Triton, and Percy snorted. "You got that right." They all grumbled.

Amphitrite and Annabeth both narrowed their eyes at their respective male, "Don't worry, Wisegirl, I let them down easy." Percy said when he caught her look, kissing her on the cheek.

Poseidon shrunk into his throne, looking like he was wishing he could disappear into it, when he saw the look on his wife's face. He knew that just because she seemed to have accepted Percy and Sally, didn't mean she was happy.

 **("Naiads," I repeated... I want to go home now.")**

"All that, and its the Naiads that make you want to go home?" Katie asked.

Percy shrugged. "It was all kind of getting to me, this was just the tip of the iceberg."

 **(Annabeth frowned. "Don't...** **, mentally disturbed kids?")**

All the Greek Demigods looked at each other before they shrugged.

"We do all have issues."

"I think being mentally disturbed is a requirement for being a demigod."

All the parents stared at the kids for a moment before they quietly turned to stare at Piper and wait for her continue to read. They weren't even going to ask.

 **("I mean _not human_...** **Olympians."**

 **"That's... crazy.")**

"It kind of is when you think about it. When you don't grow up knowing about this like some of us did." Annabeth said, gesturing around the room.

Those who didn't grow up knowing about the gods; the Percy's, Rachel, Nico, Leo, and Piper- all nodded in agreement. It was very crazy hearing about this the first time.

 **("Is it? What's the... the last few millennia?")**

"No." Artemis said, glaring at the gods. Hera, Persephone, and Amphitrite nodded on agreement with her, all of them glaring at their husbands. Zeus and Poseidon shrunk down into their thrones at their wives looks, while Hades reached out and hugged his wife instead. Sally looked like she wanted to disappear.

Aphrodite just shrugged, she didn't really care what her husband did. How could she when she was usually hanging off her boyfriends arm when he was around?

 **("But those are just-"...** **"Then who's your dad?")**

"Oh, you do not want to ask her about her dad." Luke whispered.

Athena looked at her daughter, concerned. She knew Annabeth ran away from home when she was young, but she never found out why. Her daughter never talked about it, at least, not that she'd heard.

 _Annabeth_ looked at the floor, she really didn't want to discuss her dad, but she had a feeling that it would come up at some point.

 **(Her hands tightened...** **How sexist is that?")**

"Considering you said that it was the _gods_ who ran around having kids with mortals..." Piper said, emphasizing the 'gods' part.

"I think he had every reason to think your godly parent was your dad considering the way you worded your sentence earlier." Rachel finished.

Annabeth nodded slowly. Now that they mentioned it, she did kind of lead Percy to the conclusion it was her dad who was godly, "Sorry, about that, Perce." She said quietly.

He kissed the side of her head, "It's alright."

 **("Who's your mom, then?"**

 **"Cabin six.")**

"You really expected him to know what that meant?" Jason asked. "The guy just got there!"

"OK!" Percy suddenly yelled. He looked annoyed now. "Let's stop yelling at Annabeth for all of this. She lived there for so long without leaving camp, that she forgot that what seems obvious and what's common knowledge to her about the gods and camp isn't going to be known by a newbie who just learned the gods were real not two hours before."

Annabeth looked at him, and everyone else looked at each other before they realized he had a point. She had been stating stuff as fact that she viewed as common knowledge without realizing that all this was too new to Percy.

 **("Meaning?"**

 **Annabeth straightened...** **thought. Why not?)**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Annabeth asked her boyfriend with narrowed eyes.

He shrugged, "You seemed like the smart type, so it made sense that your mother was smart."

Athena nodded, then she frowned, she wasn't sure how she should feel about a son of Poseidon being the one to give the compliment.

 **("And my dad?"**

 **"Undetermined,"..** **. He loved her.")**

"That I do." Poseidon said quietly. Amphitrite and Triton glanced at him, and a moment later Poseidon pulled Amphitrite into a side hug, "I love you too, though." She smiled and just let him hold her.

She could see what drew her husband to Sally Jackson. Sally was a fierce protector, she wasn't afraid to voice her opinion, and she did anything and everything she could to protect her loved ones. She just wished that her husband had spoken with her or told her about Sally and Percy before all this happened. She hadn't wanted to find out she had a step-son here, in front of all these others.

 **(Annabeth gave me...** **sometimes it doesn't?")**

A few of the gods shifted uncomfortably at the looks the demigods were aiming their way.

 **(Annabeth ran her..., Percy. They ignore us.")**

"Hey, that's not..." Ares started.

"Yes, yes it is." Hermes said. Staring at him. He still couldn't believe that they used what happened to him after his daughter died as an excuse to completely ignore their children. Sure, he was devastated, but that was no excuse for them to stop being parents!

 **(I thought about... But gods should behave better.)**

"Yes, yes they should." A few demigods muttered. Hermes nodded along with him.

 **("So I'm stuck here,"...** **not a real powerful force.)**

"Hey!" Katie, Demeter, Piper, and Aphrodite all yelled, turning to glare at Annabeth.

"I meant in terms of your godly scent. Believe me, I know that some of your children, and siblings, can be quite the force when they have a reason to be." Annabeth said, holding her hands up in a surrender position and hurriedly explaining.

"Well, with my siblings, your statement in the book is actually pretty true, but..." Piper said. "And I wouldn't exactly call make-up a reason." A few demigods snickered at that.

"I know, your one of the ones who doesn't need a reason to fight and be a force." Annabeth grinned at her, she remembered some of what Thalia and Jason told her about their quest. From what they said, Piper fought extremely well and wasn't afraid to get dirty. Unlike her siblings would have been.

 **(The monsters might...** **fights. Practical jokes.")**

"Um, I'm sorry, did you just say, 'practical jokes'?" Reyna asked. Sally looked like she agreed with Reyna. Monsters should never be anywhere near the children when they weren't on a quest or the Camp being invaded.

"If a monster is summoned for a practical joke, Chiron is always informed ahead of time, and the summoner always makes sure its a monster their target can handle. Besides, not only is it kind of funny to watch the target go off on whoever summoned it later, its also good training." Annabeth explained. The other Greeks nodded.

"Keeps people from getting complacent in camp, too." Percy added. He noticed everyone giving him weird looks, "What? I know big words!"

 **("Practical jokes?"** **"The...** **beads of different colors.)**

"Wait," Hazel said suddenly. "Are those a Greek thing?"

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.

"Percy's necklace, he was staring at it his first night at Camp Jupiter, especially the bead with the Empire State building. We asked him where he got it, but obviously he didn't remember."

Percy stared at the opposite wall with a stony look on his face, but all the Greeks knew he was just trying to get his emotions under control again. All the Greeks pulled out their necklaces, and after a moment, Percy pulled out his. The only difference between his and theirs, was the _probatio_ tablet on it. Jason, Leo, and Piper stared at them all, they hadn't been there a summer yet, so they didn't have their necklaces yet.

One of the younger kids grabbed the necklace of an older one and started looking at the new beads. "Let's see, there's a trident, is that the Golden Fleece?!" All the futures grinned. "Let's see, a maze... and the Empire State building, with names around it." _Connor_ said, looking up at all the futures. "That's a lot of names. Those kids... they're dead in your time, aren't they?"

All the future Greeks looked at each other before Clarisse grabbed her necklace back and put it back on without a word.

 _Travis_ leaned over to _Connor_ and asked, "Did you get a look at any of those names?" _Connor_ nodded, "Well?!" _Travis_ hissed.

 _Connor_ looked at him and shook his head. He wasn't going to say any of those names. Especially since Beckendorf's name was on it.

 **(It was just like... it, like a college ring.)**

Annabeth smiled sadly. "My dad's."

 **("I've been here...** **come so young?")**

"Wow, pushy much there, cuz?" Thalia asked, raising her eyebrows in Percy's direction.

Percy went red, "I was just trying to make conversation."

 **(She twisted the...** **now if I wanted to?")**

A few of the Greeks waved their hands in a 'so-so' motion.

"Depends on who you are talking to." Luke said.

"If its a..."

"...son of Hermes..."

"...Then sure, no prob." The Stolls said.

"If it's a rule follower from another cabin, then no, you can't leave." _Luke_ said.

"But if it's...

"...A rebel from another cabin..."

"...Then it's only a slightly bigger..."

"...Problem than if its one of ours." The _Stolls_ finished.

Everyone stared at the Luke's and Stolls. Before slowly turning to face Piper again, all of them thinking, 'creepy'.

 **("It would be suicide...** **hadn't gone well.)**

Both Luke's winced and shook their heads as they reached up to finger their scar. No, last time hadn't gone well at all.

 **("Back in the sick...** **_do_ know something?")**

Athena leaned forward, eager to learn what was going on. Everyone who had already figured out the Bolt had been stolen (Everyone except Zeus and Athena) stared at her and shook their heads. She needed to her head out of her plans and strategies and he needed to start using his brain more often and stop relying on hers so much.

So far, though, the only ones who had figured out about Percy being blamed for it were the Sea Folk, the ones who were there, obviously, and Apollo. Although Hermes had an idea.

 **("Well... no. Back at...** **seemed so _normal_.")**

Athena's eyes narrowed, her daughter was talking about this solstice. The meeting the future kids interrupted. This just confirmed everyone else's thoughts that the Bolt was stolen shortly after the meeting.

 **("You've been to Olympus?")**

"What? You guys are allowed on Olympus?" Reyna asked, shocked.

Percy and the Greeks nodded. All the Romans shrunk back into their seats muttering about how unfair that was.

 **("Some of us year-rounders...** **a New Yorker, right?")**

"Annabeth, dear, that's one of those things you see as common knowledge that he won't know about because he didn't grow up with it." Sally told her gently. Annabeth blushed when she thought about that, she hadn't thought about it that way, she guessed that she forgot that mortals didn't know how to get to Olympus.

 **("Oh, sure." As far... not to point that out.)**

"Good idea." A few of the guys told Percy.

Annabeth blushed again at the reminder that Percy hadn't known, even when she expected him to.

 **("Right after we visited,"... something important was stolen.)**

Athena growled softly in frustration, "But what was stolen?!" She muttered quietly to herself. If she had thought back to the book title, she would have figured it out, but she didn't. And because she figured nobody would be stupid enough to steal from the gods, she never even considered that it could be one of their symbols of power. She was too proud to admit that something like that could even happen.

Zeus frowned her way, he'd been hoping Athena would figure it out and tell him.

Everyone else who heard her gaped. Wasn't she supposed to be the smart one?

 **(And if it isn't returned... the rivalry with Poseidon.)**

When Book Annabeth mentioned Athena getting along with everyone, most of the council looked at each other and had to look away again before they started laughing. Mostly, they tolerated her.

She tended to be the 'I-know-everything-so-you-will-listen' sort. Just last week she started lecturing Apollo on the latest medical procedure, a medical procedure that he and his son invented together! It had been a father-son bonding project, and Athena for some reason saw fit to lecture Apollo on the purpose of it, the circumstances in which it could be authorized, and how it was supposed to be performed. So, yes. Everyone mostly just tolerated her. She even tried to tell Hephaestus how to put an engine together.

She had her moments where they honestly enjoyed her company, but those moments were few and far between. Poseidon just happened to be the one who tolerated her the least, and he was the most vocal about it.

 **(But, I mean, aside...** **ask any more questions.)**

"I bet you were overloaded." Sally muttered.

"I honestly think I prefer the way I found out about the Greek world." Rachel said. "Being stabbed with a sword and all. At least I got straight answers."

Everyone stared at her, Percy went red. That had not been his finest moment. Rachel noticed everyone looking, "What?" They turned back to Piper without a word and waited for her to find her place again.

 **("I've got to get a... tell me the problem...")**

Chiron sighed. "Child, I'm certain that if we haven't told you anything by this point, then there is a good reason. Likely, there is nothing you can do about it."

Annabeth blushed and looked down. _Annabeth_ looked away with a stubborn look on her face. _Luke_ and Thalia looked at each other before shaking their heads and looking at _Annabeth_ again. Luke had his head in his hands and was shaking it, mumbling something that nobody could quite make out.

If anyone were to look, they would see one of the MS banging their head against their hands muttering quietly to themselves while the other six watched, amused.

 **(I could smell barbecue... if drawing a battle plan.)**

Annabeth smirked. "I was."

Her siblings and mother smirked too. They practically lived by the saying, 'Athena always has a plan', after all.

 **(Back at cabin eleven,... peg as troublemakers.)**

"Ah," Percy said.

"But it's the ones that..."

"...don't look like troublemakers..."

"...that cause the most trouble." _Percy_ finished. Both Percy's had a smirk on their faces.

The Stolls and other future Greeks all glared at Percy and grumbled about the pranks he pulled. The ones that the Stolls got blamed for.

 _Luke_ sighed. "That's true. And its because those are the ones the teachers never watch because they don't seem like a threat." The other Hermes people nodded in agreement. So many pranks and stuff in school ruined because the teachers kept an extra close eye on them because of their looks.

 **(Thankfully, nobody paid...** **about the stealing part.)**

"Hey, we never kid about stealing." All the Hermes kids and Hermes told him seriously, at the same time.

"Creepy..." Leo muttered. A few others nodded in agreement.

Nobody noticed Percy's face going stony once Luke walked over to him in the book. Both him and Annabeth had agreed later, it was a toss-up over which of them had been betrayed by Luke the worst. Sure, Annabeth had been closer to him and had known him longer, but she had told him later in private that she had known something was up with him for a while, she just hadn't let herself consider what it could be. She'd had a feeling, deep down, that he was going to do something, act on his anger... the one thing she just never imagined was that he would join Kronos.

Percy, on the other hand... Luke had been the first person in a long time, aside from Grover, that Percy let himself open up to. That Percy had given his trust to.

 **(I said, "Thanks."...** **wall. "Tough first day?")**

"You could say that." Percy grumbled quietly. Annabeth sighed beside him and hugged him from the side.

Luke glanced at him, worried. He knew he kind of hurt Percy, he really didn't want to find out how much. He already knew exactly how much he hurt Annabeth and Thalia. 'Besides,' he decided, 'it's different hearing about the betrayal directly from that person's point of view like this.'

 **("I don't belong here,"...** **doesn't get any easier.")**

"Well, he was right about that." Percy muttered. Annabeth nodded in agreement.

"Your life was much simpler back then, wasn't it?" She murmured quietly in agreement. Percy nodded.

 **(The bitterness in his... just about anything.)**

 _Luke_ looked a little disturbed by something, while Luke buried his face in his hands. Percy stared straight ahead at the wall.

 **("So your dad is Hermes?"...** **was going to gut me,)**

A few of the futures tensed at that, not that many people noticed. Those that did, narrowed their eyes, but dismissed it as them simply being protective. Only Hermes thought there was more to it, and resolved to speak with his son later.

 **(but he just scraped...** **-footed messenger guy.")**

Hermes raised an eyebrow while the Romans looked horrified at how Percy just described him. "I think that's the first time I've been called that. And I've been called a lot of things over the centuries." He informed the room.

Percy just shrugged.

 **("That's him. Messengers...** **to call me a nobody.)**

"What's wrong with being Nobody?" Annabeth asked with a glint in her eye.

Percy and Grover grinned, "Nothing, unless you're Polyphemus." Percy said mysteriously. Clarisse snorted. "I still say you two are insane for doing that." She grumbled.

Annabeth and Percy shrugged while everyone stared at them, while Sally groaned and put her head in her hands. She didn't know what happened that summer, and she didn't want to know. Now it looked like she wouldn't have a choice.

 **(He just had a lot on his mind.)**

Luke flinched. "Yeah, I did." He muttered.

 **("You ever meet your...** **with how he got his scar.)**

Both Luke's sighed. "Nope, different story." _Luke_ said bitterly. Luke just stared at the floor. Hermes was concerned, he had a bad feeling that Luke did something very, very bad. The feeling started when his older son arrived and the other futures reacted so violently to his presence, but now... he was almost certain.

 **(Luke looked up and... care of each other.")**

"Take care of each other, yeah right. Hypocrite." Clarisse muttered. A few others muttered in agreement. Only Chris stayed silent, but that was mostly because he used to be on Luke's side, until he was sent into the Labyrinth and not expected to come back alive, that is.

Hermes frowned. Yeah, he was definetely talking to his son later.

 **(He seemed to understand... had done for me all day.)**

The other Greeks realized why Percy seemed to have taken Luke's betrayal so hard, while all Annabeth seemed to do had been to deny that he'd been doing all that of his own free will. While Annabeth denied, Percy was obsessed with stopping him.

 **(I decided to ask...** **knife. "I hate prophecies.")**

Everyone nodded in agreement. "Especially when Octavian is involved." Percy muttered.

Hazel looked over at him. "You're still going on about that?!" She exclaimed.

"He killed my panda! I worked hard to st- er... find that thing!" He yelled, changing his words and hoping his mother didn't notice his slip-up. Sure, she knew that Demigods sometimes stole to survive, but she still didn't like it.

Everyone who was Greek looked at him like he was crazy while the Romans nodded in agreement. "He is a menace to teddy bears everywhere." Reyna said grimly.

Jason nodded. "He destroyed my toy penguin when we were younger, according to Lupa, I had that with me when my mother left me with her." Thalia looked angry at hearing the penguins fate.

"I gave you that penguin for your birthday! How dare he!" Jason smiled at her.

Everyone just stared at the Romans and Percy for a moment while Apollo could be heard muttering the name Octavian, trying to remember where he heard it. "Oh! Octavian, my descendant and camp Augur. Yes, I don't know why he uses stuffed animals instead of chicken liver. I really don't."

Now it was his turn to be stared at like he was crazy.

 **("What do you mean?"...** **come on, it's dinnertime.")**

"Wow, that is the second time in one conversation you have been called a nobody. You are a real inspiration, aren't you?" Rachel asked Luke sarcastically.

Luke went red and muttered something about Percy being a good kid and not wanting it to be him.

The Future Greeks (FG) all narrowed their eyes at that.

 **(The moment he said... never heard one before.)**

"Your my son." Poseidon said, as if that was the only explanation needed.

Which, when they all thought about it, it kinda was.

 **(Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"...** **as the sun went down.)**

Artemis looked proud of her cabin's description, as did Zoe and Thalia.

 **(We marched up the... come skipping up the hill.)**

"Yeah, that was kinda weird to see the first time." Katie said softly. Chris and a few others nodded in agreement.

 **(In all, there were maybe... wood nymphs and naiads.)**

Piper whistled. "So few? Man."

Annabeth smiled, "This is before Percy made that deal with Zeus, before they even knew that when Percy Jackson wants them to do something, they better do it."

A few gods looked over at Percy, a little interested, while Zeus looked annoyed and slightly more paranoid.

 **(At the pavilion, torches... half my butt hanging off.)**

Hermes started muttering again about how the others needed to claim their kids already. The demigods nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

 **(I saw Grover sitting... who looked just like Mr. D.)**

Everyone who fought the Battle of the Labyrinth looked down in grief, "He smiled the other day. Its the first time he's smiled since..." Chris said quietly.

Mr. D slowly sat up and stared at the futures, silently demanding they tell him what happened to his sons.

None of the FG's would look at him though.

 **(Chiron stood to one...** **right alongside her friends.)**

"Oh, trust me Prissy. I was in no way over it. Not until Capture the Flag anyway..." She grinned, and it was not a nice grin.

The younger kids remembered the view they walked in on when Gabe first arrived and she'd ended up alone with the thing for almost two hours. They all shivered and resolved never to make Clarisse angry.

A few of them even backed away from _Clarisse._

 **(Finally, Chiron pounded his...** **want- nonalcoholic, of course.")**

A few campers growled at that, they wished they could...

Oh well, the Hermes cabin was more than willing to obtain alcohol if any of them wanted it. As long as they kept it away from the youngrr kids, Mr. D looked the other way about there being alcohol around.

They stopped groaning when Mr. D gave them a warning look before Demeter or Hera started lecturing all of them. After lecturing the kids, they would then get on his case about influencing the children into drinking.

Honestly, like he would care. He was the god of wine. Parties and alcohol were his thing.

 **(I said, "Cherry Coke."..** **. " _Blue_ Cherry Coke.")**

Hazel huffed, "More blue, seriously?" The Jackson's grinned unrepentant.

 **(The soda turned a...** **drank a toast to my mother.)**

A couple of girls cooed, Percy buried his face in Annabeth's hair at their reactions. Yes, he loved his mother to death, and yes he was probably the world's biggest mama's boy, but that had been a private moment!

 **(She's not gone, I... place, then someday...)**

Hades groaned. "Every generation. Every generation I have to deal with demigods coming to my realm demanding their loved ones back. It's not that I enjoy keeping people's loved ones from them, there are laws. Laws older than Gaia and the Giants, governing life and death. Once you are dead, you are dead. There is nothing I can do. Why can none of them ever understand this?" He mumbled.

Hazel and Nico heard him, and they glanced at each other. Nico technically brought Hazel back to life... his dad wouldn't have to take her back to the Underworld, would he? Hades saw them looking at each other and caught their eyes, before he signaled that he wanted to speak with them after this chapter.

He needed to know how Hazel was here, how she was alive and part of the Fifth Cohort and not in the Fields of Asphodel.

 **("Here you go, Percy,"...** **for dessert or something.)**

"Nope, sorry." A few Greeks muttered. They had all thought that when they first arrived. Most of them were just a little more vocal in asking their questions.

A few gods looked slightly offended that Percy thought they were getting dessert instead of making sacrifices.

 **("Come on," Luke told me...** **the warmest, most buttery roll.)**

The Romans looked confused. Why were they wasting perfectly good food like that?

 **(Luke murmured in my ear,... They like the smell.")**

The Romans raised an eyebrow. They didn't do that. Huh, they wondered why the Greeks still did that.

 **("You're kidding."..** **not to take this lightly,)**

"Yes, don't." A few of the gods muttered.

 **(but I couldn't help wondering... smell of burning food.)**

"Not quite." Apollo said with a grin.

A few demigods rolled their eyes at him.

 **(Luke approached the... fat red grapes. "Hermes.")**

Hermes smiled softly. Even if he had a feeling the sacrifice was just to keep up appearances.

 **(I was next...** **what god's name to say.)**

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will be claimed soon. I tend to give my children about a week before claiming them, give them a chance to settle in, let people get to know them before they suddenly turn out to be a Big 3 child." Poseidon explained to the room.

Chiron nodded in agreement. He remembered that.

"Ah, I was wondering." Annabeth said softly while Percy smiled at his dad.

 **(Finally, I made a silent plea. _Whoever you are, tell me. Please.)_**

"I will. Soon, when you've had a chance to settle in, get to know a bit more of what is going on." Poseidon reassured the room.

"Brother..." Zeus warned.

Poseidon raised an eyebrow. "What's done is done. I'm not going to deny my son just because you don't like that I have one. Besides, as I recall, _you_ broke the oath first. Twice." Snickers broke out throughout the room as everybody tried not to laugh at the look on Zeus's face.

Only the Romans succeeded.

 **(I scraped a big slice...** **smoke, I didn't gag.)**

The Romans were really confused. Who wouldn't gag at the smell of burning food?

 **(It smelled nothing like burning food.)**

"Huh?" All the Romans were heard asking. The Greeks snickered at them, only to be glared at in annoyance.

 **(It smelled of hot chocolate... could live off that smoke.)**

"We can't. Not that that stops some of us from trying..." Artemis said, glaring at Hermes and Apollo as she did.

They just shrugged. "It was a dare!"

Poseidon smirked. "Yup, and you happened to be the ones to lose the dare." The Percy's looked at their dad, then suddenly burst out laughing. A snort of laughter was heard from the corner the MS were sitting in, and they looked over to see one of them with a fist stuffed in their mouth, stopping themselves from laughing along with the two sons of Poseidon and giving themselves away.

"So that's where he gets it from." A few of the demigods muttered. The Romans were trying to remember why they were afraid of the sea and why they didn't like Poseidon again.

 **(When everybody had... for our attention.)**

Percy and his father winced. They often had to suffer through listening to horses and pegasi complaining over how much concrete and pavement hurt their hooves.

 **(Mr. D got up with... holds the laurels.")**

"YES! That's what I'm talking about!" Ares yelled. The others with children started groaning and grumbling about why it was always Ares and Athena.

"Wait, capture the flag?" Hazel asked Percy.

He nodded eagerly. Then he gasped. "We should have a game while we're here. Say, Future Greeks versus younger Greeks and Romans?" He suggested, bouncing up and down excited. "Oh, but little me has to be on my team though. You know, since he's not a camper yet and all..."

"Wait, since he's not a camper, then he shouldn't play at all. Kid's never even touched a sword before." Clarisse protested.

"I'll give him some training before the game, he'll be in the same boat I was, playing a game with barely any training. Besides, when Nico arrived, we played a game not two hours later, you didn't complain about his lack of training then." Percy pointed out.

Clarisse narrowed her eyes, but was forced to let it go as everyone else around her agreed to Percy's proposition. "Hold up though, why do we have to be with the Romans while you all get to be on your own? There's more of us this way." _Annabeth_ pointed out.

"Because, _Annabeth,_ the Romans will tell you, they do not know how to fight our style very well. And, us older Greeks are more experienced than you. Fortunately for you." Percy answered.

When Percy mentioned the Romans not knowing how to fight the Greek fighting style, Nico started laughing while the Romans grumbled a bit before Frank shrugged.

"Well, your crazy fighting style won us the game, so... and made the First Cohort look like a bunch of newbies... along with the Second and Third Cohorts... Yeah, we had no idea how to fight you." The other Romans nodded.

"That game was basically us getting Percy over the wall and staying out of his way..." Hazel said.

"Is that what happened behind the walls? None of you said." Gwen asked. The two who were with Percy on his rampage nodded. Percy had a smug smirk on his face. The other Greeks didn't know what game they were talking about, but they could guess how it went for the Romans from the look on Percy's face.

Sally sighed. "Just make sure _Percy_ doesn't get hurt when you play. He is younger than all of you." She warned before gesturing for Piper to continue. The entire conversation, the gods just sat and stared.

This kid made the First, Second, and Third Cohorts look like a bunch of newbies? That was different.

 **(A bunch of ugly...** **camper today, Peter Johnson.")**

The Romans were slightly surprised when the Greeks all shared exasperated, yet slightly fond looks. Especially Percy.

It was strange the things you missed when you were forced away from home.

 **(Chiron murmured something..** **. I felt that I was home.)**

"Camp is home. Home is where the people you care about are." Percy said firmly with a soft smile on his face.

The other Greeks nodded along with him. The MS were seen nodded with him in their corner too.

"Even if you fight all the time?" Jason asked carefully, looking between Percy and Clarisse.

"Somebody once told me that, families are messy, and immortal families even more so." He shrugged. "We may not be immortal," He gestured to his fellow Greeks, "But..." He shrugged again. "He also said you can never give up on your family no matter how messy it got."

Hermes looked up, surprised at hearing Percy say that. That was pretty much his view on his Olympian family, after all. He said that all the time. From the corner, he saw Hestia beaming at the demigod.

 **(Later in the evening,... borrowed sleeping bag.)**

The Hermes children snorted. "Borrowed." A couple of them muttered.

"Yeah right." Muttered another.

Sally pretended not to hear them.

 **(My fingers curled around... let the bedbugs bite.)**

Sally sighed. She wished she could have still been there for her boy, she wished he never had to go through watching his mother be 'killed' right in front of him.

Hera was once again wondering why on earth her relationship with her two sons wasn't this good. Hestia was smiling at the family.

 **(When I closed my...** **enjoy my new home.)**

"Well, that's not ominous at all. That's the end of the chapter." Piper informed them all, closing the book.

Poseidon and Hades stood up, intent on speaking with their children. Nico, Hazel, and the Percy's were flashed by their father's to their respective rooms before anybody could say anything.

"Luke." Hermes called softly. He waited until he had the older boys attention before saying, "Walk with me. I think we have much to talk about." His other sons reflected that their usually joking and cheerful father looked old right then.

Luke looked nervous but followed his father. He'd had some time to think while he waited for his judgement... he had decided he was tired of being angry.


	11. Talks and Training

_"Well, that's not ominous at all. That's the end of the chapter." Piper informed them all, closing the book._

 _Poseidon and Hades stood up, intent on speaking with their children. Nico, Hazel, and the Percy's were flashed by their father's to their respective rooms before anybody could say anything._

 _"Luke." Hermes called softly. He waited until he had the older boys attention before saying, "Walk with me. I think we have much to talk about." His other sons reflected that their usually joking and cheerful father looked old right then._

 _Luke looked nervous but followed his father. He'd had some time to think while he waited for his judgement... he had decided he was tired of being angry._

* * *

With Poseidon and the Percy's...

"Percy," Poseidon started, "I don't care how many schools you've been to, I want you to know that I am very proud, no matter what. I always have been. Sure, an education is important, but... when it comes to being a demigod, being street-smart is even more important. And I wish I could have been around more when you were growing up." Poseidon said, watching his sons carefully.

Percy smiled at him before coming to give him a side-hug where he sat on the edge of his bed. "I know dad. I wish you could have been around more too, but I understand there are laws, and you are very busy."

 _Percy_ came and sat on his other side. "You watched when you could, you did what you could." He said as he hugged his dad from the other side.

They were all silent for a while, before _Percy_ asked, "What do I do when we are done here, and I go back to my time? What am I supposed to tell mom and Lily?"

"I don't know, son. I guess, we will just have to figure that out later, towards the end of the books." Poseidon said with a sigh. There was also the fact that _Percy_ would be going back to Gabe when they were done here. Maybe the Fates would let him write a letter or something and let _Percy_ take it with him?

They all groaned when Amphitrite came in to inform Poseidon that Zeus was demanding a council meeting right now. Poseidon had a feeling that this would be about Percy's power and Percy's insistence that Father was a threat and would threaten Olympus. He stood up and sighed before kissing Amphitrite on the cheek and hugging the boys before flashing back to the throne room, where he settled back into his throne and braced himself for a long 'discussion', he started thinking up ways of threatening Zeus so Zeus wouldn't immediately jump to the ridiculous conclusion that he was trying to use his sons to take over Olympus.

How did his younger brother become the ruler again? Last he checked, Hades was the oldest brother and he Poseidon was the strongest brother.

Not Zeus.

* * *

With Luke and Hermes...

Hermes led Luke out of the throne room and towards the gardens. They walked in silence for a while while Hermes gathered his thoughts.

Finally, he had enough of the silence, "How deep in were you?" He asked.

Luke looked down. "I, umm, gave him my body to inhabit. Before that, I led his armies and recruited demigods. When the time was right, I swam in the Styx so my body would be capable of handling his spirit until he was back at full strength. I gave him everything I was. I was never going to survive, and I knew that. Once he was back at full strength, his power would have blown my body apart. I did everything so he could come back and tear Olympus apart. And I didn't care. I just wanted the gods gone, I thought if they were gone, that demigods would have an easier life, that we would finally get some recognition. That Kronos actually cared where our parents didn't." Luke said.

By now, they had stopped by a fountain, and Hermes watched as some of the other Future Greeks walked past, going deeper into the gardens.

Luke watched them go too, his eyes on Chris. "Chris was one of my first recruits. The summer Kronos rose, I sent him into the Labyrinth. Alone. Without the String. Without any other way to navigate. It was a suicide mission, and I just, sent him in. I never ever expected to see him again. And I. Didn't. Care. My own brother, and I didn't care that I sent him on a suicide mission. We had a spy in camp, and later on she told me that when Clarisse brought him back to camp, raving mad, she kept him as healthy as she could while they waited for Mr. D to come back from seeing about the minor gods loyalties so Mr. D could restore his sanity. The 'enemy' treated him better than we did." He sighed.

"I told myself that it was a sacrifice we were all willing to take for the good of the rest of the world. That it was for demigods everywhere. For Percy's first quest, I set him up for a one way trip to Tarturus, the plan was for him to take the Lightning Bolt to Kronos, unknowingly. I have dueled Percy so many times, but the end of his first summer at Camp? I summoned a pit scorpion and set it on him. I'm told the nature spirits in the forest barely got him to Chiron on time, not even putting his hand in the water was enough. The next summer, I poisoned Thalia's tree. My older sister, that tree was made of her spirit, and I poisoned it." He looked like he was about to break down.

Hermes reached and put a hand on his shoulder, not quite sure if the hug he wanted to give him would be welcome.

"You made a mistake. A big one, but... Kronos is known for being persuasive, and I can only guess that he started talking to you shortly after you came to camp? I remember you were in a very bad way back then, after everything that happened with Thalia." Hermes started slowly. Luke looked up at him. "To him, you would have been easy prey. How long did it take you to really start listening to him?"

"A couple of years." Luke whispered. "After my quest to the Garden, everything he was saying started making so much more sense."

"See? You held out for close to three years. That's longer than anyone I have heard ever holding out and not listening to him. Luke, this is Kronos we are talking about. He has persuaded and tricked us gods into doing his bidding more than once. Zeus will never admit it, he forbade us from talking about it, but World War Two? You know that was mostly children of Hades versus children of Zeus and Poseidon? Well, Zeus denies it, but Kronos was pretty much helping tensions on both sides grow. He didn't start anything, but he sure didn't help it end either." Hermes said, squeezing Luke on the shoulder.

Luke smiled slightly, then sighed. "I'm worried about my younger self. He was supposed to steal the Bolt at the end of that meeting, get the Bolt somewhere safe, then be back on Olympus before anyone even realized the Bolt was gone. I've realized my mistakes, I've lived them, but, he'll just be reading about it. And he'll be reading about it from Percy's and the Olympians point of view. The very ones he sees as his enemies. He's not going to want to back down just from this reading. And when Zeus finds out? Oh, man." He turned away and ran a hand down his face. "The only thing keeping him from killing us then and there will be the fact the Fates forbade it."

"He'll have to go through me and your brothers too. Don't forget that." Hermes said, turning him around and holding his chin so Luke couldn't look away. "You made a mistake. One that almost destroyed the world, but it was a mistake. Those happen. And you are still my son. No matter how many mistakes you make. We will make your younger self see that. And we will make the others see how wrong we are in keeping so much distance from our children." He said, making sure Luke understood. Only then, did Hermes allow himself to hug his son.

A few minutes later, Demeter found them. She watched for a few minutes before she cleared her throat, when Hermes looked up, she started, "Zeus is calling a quick meeting. I think it's about all the Big Three children running around right now." Hermes growled a little at that before he sighed and nodded.

"I'll be right there." She nodded and walked away, back towards the throne room. "We will talk to your younger self, and don't worry about Zeus. I'll handle him if he starts to get ideas. Why don't you go find the younger kids? See what they're up to? I don't think anybody is watching them right now, and you know how _Travis_ and _Connor_ can be."

Luke smiled at that and walked away, Hermes watched him go, for once feeling every bit of his several thousand years. He couldn't help but feel he failed somewhere.

* * *

With Hades, Nico, and Hazel...

Hades sat on his bed, watching his two children in front of him. One of whom, he knew was supposed to be dead and in the Fields of Asphodel. As much as he really didn't want her there.

"Well? One of you want to explain to me how Hazel is here, alive and well? Not that I'm complaining, dear. It's just... you both know the laws." Hades said tiredly, running a hand down his face.

Nico glanced at Hazel, who was standing there staring at the floor, she didn't want her father to tell her that she had to go back. She had nightmares of that place... and then there were her flashbacks...

"Um, well... the future is pretty bad. They captured Thanatos, and have gained control of the Doors. Monsters aren't dying, they just reform faster than we can kill them. I, um, well... I took advantage of the fact Thanatos was gone, and the doors were wide open... and I went looking for Bianca. But Bianca had already gone for rebirth... and then I found Hazel, decided to give her another chance." Nico said, a little nervously. He had broken the very law of nature after all.

Hades stared at his son for a moment. Then he sighed and ran a hand down his face again. The future sounded like a lot of paperwork. Great.

He thought for a moment. "Future me might be able to turn a blind eye... but... it will mean not acknowledging you exist. Ever. If I do, I will have no choice but to bring you right back to the Underworld." He informed his children grimly. He was rewarded with blinding smiles and... _hugs._

Well, blinding smiles by their standards. Which basically meant Nico smiled period.

They all hugged for a little bit before Persephone came in to tell Hades that Zeus was calling a meeting. He was even being so _kind_ as to include Hades in it.

Joy.

"I'll go take care of this, I'll probably be questioned to Tarturus and back about the two of you. How is it, again, that I'm the one Zeus trusts the least, and yet I'm the one who kept that blasted Oath of his? For that matter, how did he become the king again? I'm the oldest brother." He grumbled on his way out the door. He decided to walk, instead of flashing.

Just to make Zeus wait.

* * *

After leaving _Percy_ with Sally, Percy found Clarisse and the other futures he fought with in the Battle of Manhattan during the Titan war in the very back gardens, the MS were standing off to the side.

"Hey guys, shall we get started?" He asked Clarisse. "Hey, you guys have somewhere to sleep, right?" He suddenly asked the MS. When they all nodded, Percy said 'good' and left it that, instead turning his attention back to the challenge at hand.

"Rules?" He asked Annabeth as he and Clarisse stretched.

She nodded, "Alright, we don't have any of our usual equipment, but we got Beckendorf and Leo to throw something together similar to what we usually use. You will both be taking this," She pointed to a awkward shape that would be difficult to get and keep a good grip on, "500 lb. weight from here, across the river," she pointed to the river separating the back gardens from the side of the floating mountain they were on, "Where you will then leave it as you run back here. After you return here, you will both do a series of sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, and pull-ups. 50 each. For the pull-ups, you will use that tree branch." She pointed to a low-hanging branch near where they stood. "After the exercises, you will then re-cross the river and retrieve the weight. You will then bring it back across the river, first one to do so, wins."

"Who are our spotters?"

"The Stolls can do it, Travis, you have Percy and Connor can spot Clarisse." Katie chimed in.

"Agreed. Now, Percy, no using your water powers, no weapons to delay the other person, the only diversionary tactics allowed will be taunting." Annabeth said, looking at both competitors sternly, she knew how the two of them could get and didn't want another incident like the last time they challenged each other. Both of them were in the infirmary for days, and everybody refused to tell Chiron what they had been up to. The special training the demigods put themselves through shortly after Luke deserted camp and tried to kill Percy with the scorpion was the best kept secret of Camp Half-Blood. The nature spirits in the woods only knew about it because they helped with the training.

Percy and Clarisse nodded quickly. They didn't want to have to deal with the awkward questions again.

"Hey, where's Nico?" Percy suddenly asked. He didn't see the kid, Nico usually tried to make it to their challenges or training sessions, whichever they happened to be doing that night.

"I think he's still talking to his dad with Hazel..." Rachel said.

"Ah. Ok." Percy said as he and Clarisse got into position.

"Ready?" Annabeth called, standing in front of and between the challengers with her arm in the air.

"Set!" She waited for a moment to make sure they were really settled.

"GO!" She yelled, dropping her arm and making herself as small as possible so she didn't get run over.

She turned to watch and cheer Percy on as he ran to grab his weight and start across the river with it.

* * *

"You are late." Zeus bellowed when Hades finally made his way into the throne room. He looked around, he was the last here, and he noticed that Hermes looked older and even more tired than he did when he asked his oldest to take a walk with him.

"I don't recall Persephone telling me a time I had to be here by, _younger_ brother." Hades replied with an eyebrow raised. Beside him, Hades could see Poseidon trying, and failing, to contain his laughter.

 _"You had that thought earlier too?"_ Hades asked Poseidon mentally.

" _Yup."_ The two brothers smirked at each other again. They actually missed the days when the youngest would come to his older brothers for advice. Now, the youngest was constantly trying to accuse them of trying to steal his power. While forgetting the fact that if they really wanted it, they wouldn't have to _try_. They could just take it.

Even Aphrodite could just take it. Her and Poseidon were the strongest here, after all. Perhaps even Hestia, but nobody really knew just how strong she was, she never showed it.

Zeus fumed at the reminder that he was the youngest, while everyone else stared at the three with raised eyebrows. It wasn't often that Hades or Poseidon pulled the older brother card. Usually only when they were really annoyed with him, but they also tended to avoid Zeus when they could.

"Let's get this meeting started." Zeus finally called. He had a bad feeling about this though... Hades and Poseidon looked like they were agreeing on something... He glared at his _older_ brothers, who both smirked back.

"First off, why do you two have children?!" He yelled.

Hades and Poseidon each raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"First off, brother, have you forgotten the two children you currently have here? Just because one is Greek and the other Roman means nothing, they still exist despite the Oath. Which means YOU broke it twice." Poseidon started.

"Secondly, neither of us wanted to take that Oath in the first place." Hades continued.

"And thirdly, Hades did not break his Oath. He hid his children when YOU tried to kill them and their mother. Hazel is another story entirely, but she was also born before the Oath." Poseidon finished. Both brothers stared at Zeus.

" _How did you know about Hazel? And what exactly do you know?"_ Hades asked Poseidon mentally.

 _"I know all of it, about her going to Alaska, and dying there. I'm not even going to ask how she is alive again. Congratulations on that, by the way."_

 _"Thank you. But how do you know?"_

 _"Simple, I keep track of my family. And that includes my brother's children"_

 _"Thank you."_

Zeus sat in his throne wondering what to do. It had been a few centuries since Hades and Poseidon teamed up against him like this. He never seemed to know what to do when it happened either. The two of them together were kind of like Hestia in that regard. But then she was the oldest sibling...

When he looked to Hera for help, she just raised her eyebrow, as if saying, 'what are you looking at me for? Your the one in trouble.'

Finally, he huffed, "Fine, whatever, then let's talk about how powerful your children are, what that means for the prophecy, and how your boy, Poseidon, seems to think Father will be coming back."

Poseidon narrowed his eyes. "Are you calling MY son a liar?" He asked dangerously.

Zeus floundered for a moment. He hadn't heard that tone of voice directed at him in a long time.

"And our children? Because they are all backing young Perseus in his claims." Demeter asked, her own voice promising danger.

"I... well... I mean... He can't be coming back!" Zeus burst out finally. He knew this meeting would not go well.

Poseidon narrowed his eyes at his brother and stood up, "Know this, and know this now, Zeus. My patience is growing thin with your constantly accusing us or constantly ignoring threats when they come until it is too late. If you dare bury your head in the sand and insist there is not a problem in these books, then I will consider declaring you unfit to rule for the duration of the emergency." He said with authority. With that he flashed out.

Apollo whistled lowly. "I never thought I would see him snap like that. He's usually so laid back."

"He has a point though. You do tend to ignore problems until it is too late and you can no longer say there is nothing wrong." Hestia said from her corner by the fire.

"Indeed. Get your act together Zeus. These kids are showing that we have grown too complacent and apathetic over the centuries. That could very well be our undoing." Hades said before he, too, flashed out.

Everyone was silent for a moment before they started to talk amongst themselves a bit before they all flashed out twenty minutes later.

The whole time, Zeus was sitting there in shock. He didn't move.

When he finally snapped out of it, he was the only one in the room except for Mrs. O'Leary and Gabe. Mrs. O'Leary shadow-traveled out as soon as his eyes landed on her. He was in a bad mood and she didn't want to be anywhere near that. When she left, he turned his gaze to Gabe, Gabe just stared back for a minute before he, too, tried to inch his way backwards as best he could while still being tied up.

Zeus's eyes narrowed before a lightning bolt appeared in his hand and went flying towards Gabe. It was a really good thing the Fates weren't letting him die while he was here.

For the next hour, all people could hear coming from the throne room was the sound of thunder rolling and shouts of outrage.

Poseidon raised an eyebrow and continued his conversation with Sally and Paul.

The Greeks out in the back gardens all paused in what they were doing to look towards the throne room before they all shrugged and went back to the race. Which Percy was currently winning. Depending on who you asked, it was no contest. If you were to ask Clarisse though, he was barely winning.

* * *

About an hour and a half after the failed council meeting, Hestia was very annoyed with herself. She meant to get dinner inside the kids _before_ their parents talked to them and before they went off on their challenge.

So, here she was, calling all the council back together for dinner and having Poseidon blow a conch horn to call the demigods. Only the Greeks would automatically answer its call, although she hoped the Romans would put it together, having already read that part. If they didn't come, she would send the Grovers out to smell them out.

Surprisingly, the Future Greeks, except for Piper and Leo, and the MS were the last ones back. Clarisse and Percy were dirty, sweaty, and still breathing hard like they'd just run a marathon. Percy was also getting his shoulder checked out by Will.

"I won!" Percy called happily in between pants. When everybody who didn't come in with them asked what he won, all the futures put a finger to their lips in a 'I'm not telling' gesture. It was actually really creepy the way they all did it at the same time.

"Hold still! Man, you tore your shoulder again. You really need to stop doing that." Will complained as he kept working. "Aw man, I can't get it to go back together. Hey, Dad! Can you give me a hand with this? His shoulder muscles just won't go together."

"Have you tried just throwing some water on him?" Apollo asked as he came over.

"This injury was sustained in the river out back. By all rights, it should have healed as soon as he got it, but noooo. That just happens to be the one body of water in the world that doesn't heal him." Will complained. The whole time, Percy was sitting there on his bench, eating his pizza with his other hand, watching them with his head cocked.

"Well, have you tried water since he got out of the river?" Poseidon asked as he came over, concerned about why the river out back didn't heal his son.

"First thing I tried. Didn't work. It's like his healing abilities are blocked or something since he got out of that river." Will huffed, frustrated while Apollo took over with Percy's shoulder. By now, everyone was really wanting to know what on earth they had been up to.

Annabeth sighed. "And this is exactly why I said no weapons tonight. Although, you didn't have to throw the dumb thing."

"Hey! I got a little excited, ok? Sue me." Percy defended. Annabeth just sighed again and kissed him on the cheek before turning around and putting more pizza on his plate.

"Huh. I can't get it to heal either. That's odd. Uncle P? You want to see if you can do anything?" Apollo said, surprised.

Poseidon frowned before he summoned up some salt water and put it on Percy's shoulder, holding it there like someone would an ice-pack. Apollo ran some scans while it was on.

"Oh, yeah. Now it's healing. Slowly though. It should be healing much faster. Hm, at this rate, if we keep the, er- water-press on it overnight, it should be fine by morning." He told Percy, Will, and Poseidon. Poseidon nodded before he frowned and motioned for Triton to keep the water in place, then he walked out, saying he would be right back.

When he came back, he had a worried frown on his face. "How many of you went into that river?" He asked. Clarisse and Percy were the only ones that raised their hands. He nodded. "Alright, I want all of you to stay away from it from now on, something wasn't right about that water. The two of you should be fine, Percy, you should be back in full control of your power over water in a few hours, so your shoulder probably won't take until morning. I'll go out and take a more detailed look at it later. It should be nothing though." He said, smiling reassuringly at everyone.

Mentally, he was telling the other gods what he found, " _I found trace amounts of Father's time-sand in that river. It won't hurt them, and it's only causing a slight interference with Percy's connection to the water, but all the same. I don't want them near it."_

" _Do you need help cleaning it out later?"_ Triton asked.

" _If you would please."_

The gods could all see Zeus practically biting his tongue so he didn't provoke Poseidon into carrying out his threat earlier. That, and, he was really disturbed with the fact that some of his father's time-sand would be in a river on Mt. Olympus.

" _Hold on, what if that time-sand was put there by the Fates? As part of them freezing time in the palace for this reading?"_ Apollo asked.

" _It is possible. But then if that is the boundary, then the children shouldn't have been able to cross it at all."_ Hestia said.

" _I'll go out there to clean it out later on anyway. If the Fates put it there, then they will let me know somehow, or just keep putting it there until I get the hint and leave it be."_ Poseidon finally said.

Everyone else murmured in agreement before they turned their attention back to their meal and the children. Hermes smiled when he saw _Luke_ start to herd the younger kids to bed when a few of them started yawning. Eventually, they were followed by the older kids, with Triton following Percy to make sure the water-press stayed on until Percy was able to control it again and keep it there himself. Apollo promised to check on it again in a few hours, whether Percy was awake or not.

* * *

The next morning, the future Greeks were all woke up much the same as the day before. With Sally waving a bag of blue chocolate-chip cookies through the air and yelling that she had cookies. Then, there was another chase through the palace between the older kids for the bag of cookies Percy snatched from his mother on his way past her.

Once they were gone, Sally once again pulled another bag out from seemingly nowhere to give everyone else who didn't go running off after Percy. Then she herded them to where Hestia had breakfast set up outside today. When asked where she got the cookies from, she just smiled mysteriously and refused to say anything.

When the older kids finally came out, followed by the MS, who were still kind of stumbling around like they were half-asleep, Hestia finally served the food.

"Hey, Apollo, you come in last night to check my shoulder? Because it feels good as new." Percy said, rolling said shoulder a bit.

Apollo nodded. "Yes, it was healed nicely." Percy just nodded.

After they were done eating, Hestia simply conjured up chairs around the area they were in, and then passed the book off to Will.

 **Chapter eight: We capture a flag**


	12. Chapter 12

_After they were done eating, Hestia simply conjured up chairs around the area they were in, and then passed the book off to Will._

 _ **Chapter eight: We capture a flag**_

"Aw man." Ares moaned, slumping back into his throne. Percy, Annabeth, and the rest of their team for that game smirked at him.

 **(The next few days... nymphs, and a centaur.)**

Nearly everybody who didn't know about their parentage before coming to camp nodded. It did take a lot to get used to.

 **(Each morning I took... too much headache.)**

"And that headache is now gone." Percy said, jerking his head down in a half nod. He was quite proud of it, too. "I can even read Latin fairly well..." He said with a shrug.

 **(The rest of the day,... arrow out of his tail.)**

"Um, where was he standing?" Apollo asked.

Percy turned bright red and sank down in his chair while the Hermes children laughed.

"Chiron was standing..."

"... behind us."

"It was quite... ah, interesting to watch." Chris added in.

"Yeah, I'd never seen anyone that bad at archery." Luke said, trying to smother his grin.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Percy grumbled.

"You got to admit, Prissy. That shot was legendary, I think the Apollo cabin still tells that story..." Clarisse trailed off, glancing at Will, who nodded with a grin.

Percy slumped even further in his seat when everyone in the throne room started laughing, even Annabeth and his mom were laughing at him. The only one not laughing was _Percy._ But that was probably only because he figured that if Percy was that bad at Archery, then he was too.

Chiron was too busy being pale and grumbling about them laughing until it was them with arrows stuck it their tails.

 **(Foot racing? No good... slower than a tree.)**

"Truth."

"Preach it."

"Tell me about it."

"Not just lovesick gods, either..." (Grover blushed when somebody said that.)

 **(And wrestling?...** **mumble in my ear.)**

"You bet there was." Clarisse muttered.

Percy smirked at her.

 **(The only thing I... beaten the Minotaur.)**

"No, not really. But how on earth did we not suspect that his father had something to do with the ocean, or at least water?" Luke asked. Clarisse and Annabeth just shrugged. They and Luke were three of the counselor's who'd been trying to figure him out. They never would have thought of it being Poseidon, even with all the little clues everywhere.

The bathroom incident, being good on the water... his looks. "Maybe we were just trying not to see what was right in front of us? You know, because of the Oath? We didn't think he could be because Lord Poseidon wasn't supposed to have any more kids, so we didn't even consider it." Annabeth suggested with a shrug. The others frowned and nodded with a shrug. Made sense.

Zeus frowned when the Oath was mentioned, but he didn't say anything. Mostly because he'd caught Hestia's eye.

 **(I knew the senior... as the Ares kids,)**

"Got that right." Clarisse mumbled. _Clarisse_ and Frank just blinked. He seemed plenty strong to them. "I meant back then." Clarisse said with a shrug when she caught them looking at her in confusion.

 **(or as good at archery as the Apollo kids.)**

"No, no you were and are still not." Will said, shaking his head. Then he started muttering about Percy with a bow and arrow in his hand was a threat to the very existence of camp. Percy shot him a look like somebody just kicked Mrs. O'Leary.

 **(I didn't have... way with vine plants.)**

"Don't worry, Johnson, nothing to worry about there." Mr. D said over the top of his latest wine magazine. People shot him surprised looks. They didn't think he was listening, although a couple of them actually forgot he was even there.

 **(Luke told me I... to make of me either.)**

"Nope. I didn't have a clue." He said. Then he whispered so that only the Future Greeks sitting close by could hear him. "All I knew was that you were wanted alive for some reason, Kronos thought you would be special." Percy made a face at that. Oh yes, he knew exactly why Kronos would have wanted him alive. The Titan had only tried to recruit him often enough.

 **(Despite all that, I... to bring her back...)**

Hades groaned again and banged his head back, muttering about foolish demigods and paperwork. Redoing the security network, more paperwork, hiring new guards at the gates, more paperwork. He muttered that he used to be rich.

Nico and Hazel winced in sympathy for their father. Hazel remembered quite well just how crowded the Fields were, and Nico just wandered around a lot, so he knew the Underworld pretty well.

 **(I started to understand... resent his father, Hermes.)**

Percy suddenly found his shoes to be very interesting. The other Future Greeks looked at him, slightly startled, while Luke looked pained. They all wondered just how easy it was for all the other demigods who actually did defect, if Percy was so understanding.

You know, the guy with personal loyalty as his fatal flaw...

 **(So okay, maybe gods... a phone appear?)**

Hermes and Apollo both said, "Exactly. Our. Point."

The rest of the council either shifted uncomfortably, or glared at them. Only Poseidon, Hades, Aphrodite, and Dionysus agreed with them. They were the ones that actually made an effort with their kids.

"You know, I can't decide which set of parents is worse. I mean, my parents don't really care about me beyond that I don't damage their reputation... but at least they are THERE. You guys never really are there..." Rachel said thoughtfully.

 **(Thursday afternoon, three...** **my reflexes were good.)**

"Dude, your reflexes were amazing. I'd never seen someone like that their first time ever holding a blade. The only way you would have looked more comfortable with it was if it was actually balanced." Luke said. Poseidon looked proud, while Triton muttered that he wondered how Percy would do with a trident.

 **(The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands.)**

"Because none of them came from the sea. I don't know why, but my children have always had a hard time finding a land-forged blade that worked for them, unless they had it specially made just for them, but even then, they rarely balance right." Poseidon said with a shrug.

"But... Lord Poseidon, Riptide wasn't forged in the sea..." Zoe spoke up hesitantly.

"Maybe not... but it was still created by a daughter of the sea. And the form it was originally in, was forged in the sea as a gift." Amphitrite said gently to the girl.

 **(Either they were too...** **this was my first time.)**

All those who had ever trained with Luke groaned. They hated being a brand new camper, especially when Luke was the instructor. It was actually even worse now that Percy was the one in charge of the arena.

Both Percy and Luke smirked. They actually enjoyed being hard on the newbies.

 **("Good luck," one...** **on me," I said.)**

"Percy, I don't go easy on anyone." Luke said seriously.

"Neither does Percy." Everyone else muttered.

 **(The camper snorted...** **idea, I did the same.)**

"Oh." Luke groaned. "That's where it came from..."

Everybody else who was there to see this nodded in understanding too. Poseidon smirked.

 **(Instantly, I felt better... feel so awkward.)**

Poseidon nodded, that was about right. It still wasn't as good as if he had a sea-forged weapon, but it was a good temporary fix.

 **("Okay, everybody circle...** **Percy get pounded.)**

"Oh come on, like you don't do the same with us." Will complained. Percy shrugged.

"Yeah man, I don't know who was worse, you or Luke." Chris grumbled. Percy smirked at Luke, who raised an eyebrow.

Poseidon and Sally looked distinctly proud while Paul looked like he was fighting a mix between a grin and a grimace. He had, after all, asked Percy to teach him to use a sword. So... he felt their pain.

 **(The Hermes guys... for a punching bag.)**

Said Hermes guys shrugged unrelentingly. Because they had all been in Percy's shoes.

"Not a punching bag. More like a training dummy." Luke said with a shrug.

 **(He told everybody he... to drop his weapon.)**

Ares nodded approvingly. "That's a difficult maneuver. Also a good thing to teach." He said. Luke smirked a little.

 **("This is difficult,"... to master this technique.")**

"Very true." Ares said.

Percy and the others hid smirks while Poseidon narrowed his eyes.

Book-Percy was currently in the middle of a water-induced energy and sensory boost. Which meant that he should have absolutely no problem getting this maneuver right the first time. Once the water he splashed over himself dried off though... then he wouldn't be able to do anything anymore.

If he came down from his 'water-high' in the middle of the fight and Luke wasn't expecting it... he might not have enough time to stop his strike before injuring Percy.

 **(He demonstrated the...** **hilt of my sword.)**

"Surprised me." Luke declared.

 **(My senses opened up... with more force.)**

"Because I really was not expecting him to suddenly be fighting like that. I wanted to know just how far he could go before he couldn't do it anymore." Luke said with a shrug.

Ares was looking thoughtful as he analyzed what he was hearing of this fight.

 **(The sword grew...** **the disarming maneuver.)**

"Not going to work. This is the first time you've held a blade. There is not way..."

Will cut him off when he kept reading.

 **(My blade hit the... downward thrust.**

 _ **Clang.)**_

Ares sat there, stunned. "Yeah, that was pretty much what the rest of us looked like, too." Luke said somewhat sympathetically.

Poseidon laughed, he looked decidedly proud.

 **(Luke's sword rattled...** **my sword. "Um, sorry.")**

"What are you apologizing for?" Reyna demanded to know.

Percy shrugged. "Usually when everybody around me was so quiet, it meant that I'd done something so wrong they had no words."

 **(For a moment, Luke...** **completely abandoned me.)**

"Yup. That's what happens when the energy burst wears off." Amphitrite said softly.

"I'm just glad he managed to stop the fight before it wore off completely. If it wore off in the middle and Luke wasn't expecting it while he was fighting as hard as he was..."

Luke paled slightly. "I probably wouldn't have been able to stop my swing before I did damage." He said faintly. Poseidon nodded.

 **(But Luke insisted...** **skidding across the floor.)**

"Made me really curious." Luke said with a shrug.

 **(After a long pause,...** **with a balanced sword...")**

"Unfortunately, that wasn't what I was really wondering, mostly. Because that wasn't all I was curious about." He said with a sigh.

 **(Friday afternoon, I was... on the climbing wall.)**

Sally's eyes widened, and she squeaked out a "What?"

Percy and Grover both glanced at each other before Percy said he was exaggerating. Which Grover quickly backed up, a little too quickly.

 **(Grover had scampered... singed off my forearms.)**

"Why do you even have that thing?! It is way too dangerous!" Sally cried with her eyes wide.

"No, that thing is awesome!" All the demigods yelled, except for the Romans, and Reyna was debating getting one of those for themselves.

"And that is why we still have that thing." Poseidon said with a chuckle.

"It also teaches them how to be quick on their feet. If they stop moving, they're dead. It teaches them to think fast, it's good to teach them how to dodge, and, it's fun for them." Hermes said with a shrug.

Sally looked at all of them in disbelief.

 **(We sat on the pier,...** **sickly shade of yellow.)**

A few people winced. "Not good, huh?" Clarisse asked. Grover shook his head.

 **("Fine," he said. "Just...** **a searcher's license?")**

"Searcher's license? What are you searching for?" Gwen asked.

"The god Pan. He disappeared millennium ago, and since then, humans have been destroying this planet. If we can find him..." _Grover_ said feverishly.

Rachel, Nico, Percy, and Annabeth all looked at each other and decided not to say anything. They would let Grover handle his younger self. When they looked over at him, he widened his eyes and shook his head, he wasn't handling this right now.

 **("Well... no." I had...** **the job complete.")**

"Harsh." Jason muttered.

"Yeah, I mean, there's no guarantee that Percy would ever get a quest." Piper said.

"Except I'm pretty sure Mr. D knew exactly who my father was as soon as he laid eyes on me." Percy muttered.

"Of course I did, Peter Johnson, you look remarkably like your father." Mr. D said lazily.

"And since he knew what was going on, he was probably already arguing with my dad over just claiming me and getting me out of his camp already." Percy said with a shrug. Annabeth nodded beside him.

 **(My spirits lifted...** **you want _me_ along?")**

"Why wouldn't I want you along? You're a pretty cool guy." _Percy_ said. Percy nodded in agreement.

Grover smirked. "Yeah, I seem to always go where you go. To the detriment of my health and sanity." He said as he shook his head with a rueful grin.

Percy smirked too, "Sorry man, I could always leave you home where its boring and nothing ever happens."

"Nah... I think I've gotten too used to action." Grover said. _Grover_ looked at Percy with hope in his eyes.

 **("Of course I'd want...** **have a useful skill.")**

"You do have a useful skill!" Thalia protested. Grover smiled at her.

 **(I tried to reassure him...** **have one, she'd be mad.")**

"That, and, we kind of stay there, every once in a while." Thalia said with a shrug.

"So, it's not completely honorary, as much as it is to house Milady's followers." Zoe said. "Something that I would think you, as a satyr, would know." She looked an interesting mix between annoyed and amused. Both Grover's blushed as they thought of all the times they spent sleeping outside the cabin, often with other satyr's, whenever the Hunters were in camp.

Grover was also remembering how Percy once called him a stalker with hooves.

"In my defense, my head wasn't completely in the conversation by this point..." Grover said weakly.

 **("Yeah, okay. But..** **. That's her husband's job.)**

"Hey!" Zeus protested, finally getting out of his brooding over the failed meeting the night before.

"You know it's true, dear." Hera said with a stony face. She hated it when her husband cheated. The others in the room decided to avoid looking in their direction for a while.

 **(When we say the..** **. Hades the Underworld.")**

"How exactly did that happen?" Reyna asked curiously.

"Simple. I've always had an affinity with water, Zeus always had an affinity with air and the weather, while Hades was always a little... darker." Poseidon said with a shrug.

"Seriously, that's it? No epic duel over who got who?" Leo asked, disappointed. Jason patted him on the back consolingly.

The Big 3 shrugged again.

 **("Uh-huh."**

 **"But Hades doesn't have a cabin here.")**

"There's a lot that I seem not to have." Hades said with a scowl.

 **("No. He doesn't have... Let's leave it at that.")**

"Hey! My cabin is pretty cool, thank you very much." Nico protested. "Although it would be even better if I could have security out front." He muttered.

"Yeah, the last thing we need is your undead security team giving little kids nightmares." Annabeth deadpanned.

"Yeah, and why do you need a security team? You never would say." Percy asked.

Nico shrugged and mumbled something that nobody quite caught.

Percy suddenly frowned in suspicion. "This wouldn't have anything to do with that ghost you used to hang around with, would it?" He asked. Nico shrugged again. Hades seemed to be torn between concern and amusement. He decided he would find out later what ghost was bothering his son.

 **("But Zeus and Poseidon-... their cabins empty?")**

"Because somebody is too paranoid." Poseidon muttered. Amphitrite reached over and slapped him upside the head. He gave her a sheepish look, "Sorry dear."

 **(Grover shifted his hooves... on the River Styx.")**

"An oath the three of us were happy about." Amphitrite and Hera muttered. Persephone nodded, although she hadn't cared as much if her husband went off. She knew he would always come home, and that his heart always belonged to her.

She knew any marriage counselor would probably tell her that they had an unhealthy relationship, but it worked for them.

 **(Thunder boomed.** **I said,...** **their word- no kids?")**

"Well..." The five Big Three kids said.

"Not quite." Thalia said with a smirk.

"These three wouldn't be here otherwise." Nico said, motioning towards the Grace siblings and Percy.

"What about you and Hazel?" Reyna asked in confusion.

"We were born before the oath was made, back during World War II." Hazel said with a shrug. "Its a long story."

 **(Grover's face darkened... couldn't help himself.)**

"When can he ever help himself?" Hera muttered angrily.

 **(When their child was...** **the little girl's fault.")**

"Tell that to the monsters." The older demigods muttered. "Its not our fault who our parents are, yet they come after us because of who our are."

A few parents shifted uncomfortably.

 **(Grover hesitated. "Percy... Tartarus to torment Thalia.)**

Those that didn't know the story started. They had been confused earlier by the Greeks reactions to the pine tree, especially Thalia's.

Hades frowned. "That was not one of my brightest moments, I was not really thinking. I knew of her existence almost as soon as she was born. At first, I was content to just keep an eye on her, but then...

"I knew of her existence as well. I have never believed in punishing the child for their father's doings though." Poseidon said with a shrug.

"There is a reason why I hid Nico and Bianca, why Poseidon couldn't draw attention to Percy. If Zeus knew about them, he would have killed them, despite having two children himself." Hades murmured.

Zeus looked sour but didn't dare say anything. Not with both Hera and Hestia in the room. Luckily for him, Demeter was the gentler of the three sisters. Well, unless it came to Persephone.

 **(A satyr was assigned...** **a hoard of hellhounds.)**

Hades frowned. "I really should have just let it go." He muttered.

 **(They were about to... is called Half-Blood Hill.")**

Those few who had yet to hear the story were staring at Thalia in awe and a little bit of fear. That was quite impressive. Jason looked upset, and was soon hugging his sister, as though to make sure she was really still here and not about to turn into a tree again.

"I see now why I would have made you my Lieutenant. Despite being so new to my Hunt." Artemis murmured. Zoe nodded in agreement.

 **(I stared at the...** **have saved my mother?)**

Sally sighed sadly. "Percy, you did all you could. You were untrained, and unarmed. It's amazing enough that you managed what you did. Me disappearing like that was not your fault." She scolded lightly, going to give her oldest a hug.

"Yeah, Perce. You forget, at the time of that, I'd been living on the streets and fighting monsters for years. I was experienced, and I still fell. Don't go comparing yourself to me." Thalia said. Percy was quiet but nodded.

 **("Grover," I said, "have...** **"Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini.")**

Hades growled. He really didn't like Houdini. Orpheus was annoying too come to think of it... especially all the paperwork his little stunt caused him.

 **("And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?")**

Nico was making a hard effort not to look at Hazel or his father, and Hazel was trying really hard not to fidget. One of the MS reached over and clapped the smaller figure on the shoulder.

Poseidon and Hades were both gazing around the room, both trying not to glance at Hazel or Nico.

 **("No. Never. Orpheus...** **the Underworld idea.)**

"Not at all." Grover said, shaking his head. Sally and a few others groaned.

Percy smirked at him.

 **("Not always. We go... makings of great heroes.)**

"Huh, interesting..." Reyna muttered. She was currently thinking that maybe if they could try and make the Fawns that liked to hang around useful, they would certainly be less annoying.

 **(If we find one... really huge problems.")**

"Not our fault." Thalia and Percy both claimed loudly and firmly. Nico nodded along with them, while Jason and Hazel blinked at them. From what the two Romans had heard and seen, their three Greek cousins (and siblings) were much more reckless, which led them into getting themselves into more trouble than they had to.

Jason and Hazel got themselves into their fair bit of trouble of course, but they didn't get into nearly as much. Their Roman training prevented much of it.

Everybody else who were close to the three cousins, just raised their eyebrows disbelievingly. Like they really believed that. Those three lived for getting in trouble.

 **("And you found me...** **be allowed a quest,)**

"An oracle you, Grover Underwood, are not." Rachel told him, amused. He turned red with slight embarrassment.

 **(and I'd never get... Don't worry, okay?")**

The Council frowned. "Grover... you realize that Nemesis is a goddess, right?" Apollo asked the satyr slowly.

Grover froze, before he started shaking slightly and muttering about how that explained so much. Apparently, he had a run of bad luck over the years. This explained so much of that. Nemesis was getting her revenge.

 **(I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than me.)**

"I kinda was." Grover muttered. Then he turned to his younger self and started whispering quietly to him after he sensed the turmoil in his emotions.

 **(That night after dinner,...** **for capture the flag.)**

"Capture the flag is mentioned a lot." Hazel murmured to Frank.

"Remember, Percy asked if the war games were like Capture the Flag? That was one of the few things he had some memory about." Frank said, amused.

The Greeks that overheard him shook their heads in amusement, Percy did love his Capture the flag.

 **(When the plates were...** **above an olive tree.)**

"That sounds pretty." Hazel murmured. The Athena crew smiled proudly at the girl. Their banner was very pretty.

 **(From the opposite... and a boar's head.)**

"Typical sounding for Ares." Aphrodite muttered.

"Hey!"

 **(I turned to Luke...** **he said. "But often.")**

Percy smirked. "And when its not Ares versus Athena, its usually me versus Athena."

"Those games..."

"...are legendary."

"Especially when Percy and Annabeth end up having a stare off, usually followed by a duel over the creek over who gets to pass and therefore, win."

"Yeah, but those only happen when they both reach each others flags, and then make it to the creek at the same spot, at the same time. Honestly, its almost like the two of them plan it or something." Clarisse said.

Everyone froze, then turned slowly towards Annabeth and Percy, both of whom were studying the ceiling. "Actually, only the first two times that happened were planned." Rachel said, amused.

"How do you know?" Travis challenged her.

She raised an eyebrow, "Because Annabeth told me. She spent a lot of time in my cave the first couple of weeks." Percy reached over and pulled Annabeth towards him, giving her the security of his presence. A few of the other Future Greeks raised and eyebrow and made various noises of agreement.

 **("So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do- repaint the flag?")**

"Good question. Or do you just have a bunch of other flags laying around for all the cabins?" Reyna asked.

The Legion didn't have separate cabins based on parentage. So, they had just the one set of standards, and she was the one to decide who was defending and who was attacking when they played war games.

"No, we just have the two flags. You'll see when the game is over." Percy said with a small smile. Then he sighed. "The Poseidon symbol on those flags looks amazing." He said quietly.

 **(He grinned. "You'll see...** **knew something I didn't.)**

Percy scowled and muttered something that nobody caught, but those who played this game and had been in on the plan, grimaced and exchanged glances.

Sally caught their looks and got worried.

 **(The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight.)**

Luke winced, and even _Luke_ looked a little uneasy. Hermes frowned in concern when the younger boy seemed to shrug it off as unimportant.

 **("We've made a... And _you_ are going to help.")**

Percy hummed and shot a narrow-eyed look at Annabeth and Luke. "Hm, yes... _help_." The two of them looked at each other, at least they had the grace to look sheepish. Those who were there for this match snorted in laughter. At least Percy didn't to actually be angry about it...

 **(The teams were announced... traded- shower times,)**

Percy hummed again. "Its a really good thing that both I and the Aphrodite cabin have our own showers." He muttered. "Although that doesn't really do much for capture the flag alliances."

A few other people glared at him and Piper jealously.

 **(chore schedules, the...** **actually good athletes** **,)**

Dionysus raised an eyebrow, but anyone who looked carefully could detect the proud glint in his eyes.

 **(but there were only... weren't very aggressive.)**

Demeter, too, had a proud glint in her eyes. Even absentee parents like them liked it when their children were complimented. Katie grinned at Percy's compliment.

 **(Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about.)**

"Hey!" Piper and Aphrodite protested.

"Let's keep reading, I'm sure it'll explain." Percy said absently. He seemed to be thinking about something.

 **(They mostly sat out... hair and gossiped,)**

Piper groaned in frustration, "Oh. That makes more sense now." She muttered. Louder, she said, "You'll be pleased to know that they no longer get away with any of that crap." She said with a slightly sadistic gleam to her eyes. She had fun whipping her siblings into shape. She didn't care if they broke a nail during training, monsters weren't going to care, after all, if their nails were perfect or not.

Aphrodite, too, frowned when she heard how her children were. She may be one of the more active ones when it came to claiming her kids, but she still didn't really pay them a lot of attention. She trusted their fathers to teach them better values then just their looks. None of their fathers were like that, after all. All of them knew the value of hard work. She wondered if they were like this at home, or if they just acted like airheads at camp.

While she was all for them looking good, she also knew that training to stay alive came first.

 **(Hephaestus's kids weren't... They might be a problem.)**

Hephaestus grunted when he heard Percy's assessment of his kids, while his kids grinned at Percy.

"Heck yeah! And that's without the McSchizzel being in the house!" Leo celebrated.

Beckendorf raised an eyebrow at his younger (in years) brother. "I have a feeling things got interesting in Cabin Nine when you showed up..." He said with amusement.

Percy winced. Beckendorf wouldn't live to see just how interesting. Not that Percy knew himself, he wasn't there after all.

Then Leo frowned. "But there's a lot more then four of us in there." He said.

"That has to do with a deal Percy made with the Council." Annabeth said softly. "I'm sure its been mentioned at some point?" She asked. The trio thought for a moment before they nodded in realization. They remembered now.

 **(That, of course, left... else on the planet.")**

Clarisse snorted. "Gee, love you too, Prissy." She muttered. Percy just grinned at her, while a few other people were once again left to figure out just what their relationship was.

A few people wondered how she didn't seem to be very offended by Percy calling her and all her siblings ugly. _Clarisse_ herself only seemed vaguely offended.

 **(Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.)**

Percy winced. "How on earth do you stand doing that? You should hear how much Blackjack complains about landing on pavement." He asked Chiron.

He shrugged. "I guess I'm just used to it."

 **("Heroes!" he announced...** **if I were crazy.")**

"It was a valid question." They all heard a voice mutter childishly from the corner where the MS were sitting. One of them reached out and patted the arm of the one they were assuming spoke. Unfortunately, the voice was low enough that they couldn't recognize it.

A few people had the sneaking suspicion they knew who it was, though.

 **("Unless you want...** **snowboarded on it fine,)**

"Are you kidding me?! That was something you always wanted to do?" Thalia yelled, glaring daggers at her idiot cousin. She had NOT enjoyed that.

"He did that with you too?" Hazel asked.

"He did it again?" Thalia asked incredulously.

"In my defense, a couple of days ago, I didn't have my memories, so I didn't know I was repeating something from that quest." Percy said slowly. "Also, both times I did that, I happened to be trying to get away from an enemy that just WOULD NOT die. Seriously though, what was with her and Bargain Mart?" He muttered. He turned to Annabeth. "If you thought Medusa was crazy, wait till you meet her sisters." He said this so seriously that several of them worried for his sanity, and then they were left wondering when on earth he ran into the other two Gorgons.

 **(but I hoped nobody...** **off toward the north.)**

"Not very creative ones either." Percy said, amused.

"Hey!" Clarisse protested. That was her team after all.

"Please, I could come up with more creative insults in my sleep, and you all know it." Percy scoffed.

 **(I managed to catch...** **I'd stolen something.)**

She shrugged. "For all I knew, you really were a Hermes kid."

 **("Just watch Clarisse's... thing touching you.)**

"You know, I probably should have wondered then. I mean, why warn me about something so specific?" Percy mused. Annabeth cleared her throat and looked at the ceiling.

Clarisse smirked. She liked her electric spear.

 **(Otherwise, don't worry..** **. Athena always has a plan.")**

"Hmmm. Easy, she says. Stand by the creek, she says. You know, when you said to keep the reds away, I really should have guessed what you really meant." Percy grumbled.

"We won, didn't we?" Annabeth muttered.

Percy just shrugged.

 **(She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust.)**

"Ouch." A few people muttered.

"That's cold." Reyna said with a raised eyebrow. She did not like him in the beginning, did she?

Annabeth blushed, "In my defense, I was focused on the game." She muttered.

 **("Okay," I mumbled...** **scattered into the trees.)**

"Your gonna just leave him there? He has barely a week of training!" Sally protested.

"I didn't leave him alone!" Annabeth defended herself. "I was there almost the whole time. As soon as I got the rest of our team in position, I went back to keep an eye on him."

Sally frowned, but she seemed to accept that.

 **(Standing there alone..., I felt like an idiot.)**

"Everyone does their first time wearing it." Luke assured him, then he looked at _Percy._ "I think your father might have other plans for you though..." He said as he eyed Poseidon and Triton in the corner, it looked like they were planning a suit of armor, judging by the shapes made out of water floating in the air in front of them.

Zeus frowned at Poseidon, but he didn't say anything. He didn't know if he was still mad or not, and he really didn't feel like getting yelled at again today.

 **(The bronze sword, like... hand like a bowling ball.)**

The Luke's and Ares grimaced. That sword was so bad for him it wasn't even funny.

"That was actually the best I could fit him with, the rest all balanced even worse." Luke informed the room. Percy went red.

"How on earth can anybody be that picky about swords. I mean, I know what they said about it needing to be forged in the sea and all, but..." Jason muttered to Piper, who nodded.

 **(There was no way... have liability issues, right?)**

"Uh..."

"Well..."

"About that..." A few of the Olympians muttered.

Hermes facepalmed. "I told them we needed to go into that, did they listen, noooo..." He muttered.

Sally and Paul narrowed their eyes. They did not like that they were so casual about their children getting hurt. Or worse.

 **(Far away, the conch...** **all the fun, as usual.)**

"Actually, not really. For this game, I think I would have preferred to miss the fun." Percy said somewhat cheerfully. Annabeth and Luke grimaced.

Annabeth because it was her plan, and Luke because he summoned the Hellhound.

 **(Then I heard a sound... somewhere close by.)**

"What?" Sally yelped. She hadn't thought of it earlier, but didn't they say there were monsters in those woods?

"Don't worry, mom, I was fine." Percy tried to reassure his mother. It wasn't working. He used that excuse a little to often for her tastes.

 **(** **I raised my shield... something was stalking me.)**

"Good, those instincts will keep you alive longer." Dionysus muttered. People looked at him, shocked. It sounded like he almost cared...

"The less you die, the less paperwork father makes me do, and the less letters to mortal parents I have to write." He finished.

Or not.

 **(Then the growling...** **screaming out of the dark.)**

Ares facepalmed and groaned. He knew what happened now. Annabeth used the fact that Percy humiliated Clarisse against the red team. She knew that the Ares cabin would never just let something like that go, so she set a trap.

Clarisse winced at her father's expression. "Sorry dad." She said in a small voice. He sighed and waved it off. It was a good strategy, and he supposed it was a weakness all his children shared, which only made it his fault, as much as he hated admitting he was ever wrong.

Sally was looking nervously at her oldest. She knew he could handle this, NOW anyway. Back then, not so much. Plus, she would always worry when it came to him fighting. So much could go wrong... one lucky hit could end even the strongest of warriors.

 **("Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.)**

"No, don't cream the punk." Percy muttered. Then he looked towards Leo and blinked. "What are you making?"

Everyone turned towards Leo, who was currently surrounded by a bunch of parts that only Beckendorf and Hephaestus had a hope of naming, and he was building... something. "It's gonna be a taco machine! Or a cappuccino machine... I don't really know yet... depends on if I can get the configurement right..." He trailed off and went back to his pile of parts. Lighting his hand on fire so he could light the inside of one of said parts so he could see what he was doing with his other hand.

"I was wondering why he's been so quiet lately..." Piper said, looking at Leo with fond exasperation. Beckendorf and Hephaestus looking interested in what he was building, and Hephaestus spotted several design flaws that could affect the machines performance, but didn't say anything. He let his kids figure this stuff out on their own. How would they learn otherwise? It only made the achievement that much sweeter when you figured it out on your own, after all.

 **(Her ugly pig eyes... tip flickering with red light.)**

"That's because it was a gift." Ares said with a shrug.

 **(Her siblings had only...** **against half the Ares cabin.)**

"Personally, I would run." Half the demigods offered up. Percy shrugged while his mother buried her face in her hands with a groan.

 **(I managed to sidestep... stupid as the Minotaur.)**

"Hey!" The Clarisse's protested. Even Frank looked like he wanted to say something. But he didn't, he hadn't known his father was Mars for very long after all. And certainly not long enough to defend his Greek half-siblings against a guy like Percy.

 **(They surrounded me,... numb, and the air burned.)**

"Are you kidding me?" Sally cried when she realized what that meant. Faster than anybody knew she could move, she was beside Percy, hugging him to her like he would disappear if she let go. People blinked, but didn't say anything. _Percy_ shrunk back against Triton, since his half-brother sat down after he and his father were finished designing _Percy's_ armor. Personally, Triton thought it would look amazing on _Percy._ Triton chuckled softly and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

He kinda liked being an older brother again.

 **(Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric.)**

"Hey! That spear was NOT stupid!" Ares protested with a g;are. Percy just raised an eyebrow in his direction.

 **(I fell back.)**

"Good choice." Some people muttered.

 **(Another Ares guy...** **were too busy laughing.)**

Ares frowned. "And that is where I draw the line. There are things that are acceptable in a fight, and, besides being extremely foolish and stupid to act like that in a fight, it is also unacceptable and disrespectful to your opponent." Ares scolded his daughters.

They both shrank down in their seats. He sat back in his throne muttering something about paying his kids a visit. Sure, he may at times act like a bully, but he had a thing for finishing his opponents quickly. For one, it was the smart thing to do. And, like he said, it was also the respectful thing to do.

He didn't care about honor, he didn't really see where mortals got the concept of there being honor in war. The only honor he could see was in protecting ones family, but that was about it.

 **("Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair.")**

Ares glared at his girls again.

 **(I managed to get... Now both my arms felt numb.)**

"I hate that feeling." Everybody who ever dealt with Clarisse's spear muttered. Both girls just smirked at everybody, but it seemed half-hearted.

 **("Oh, wow," Clarisse said...** **come out that way.)**

"No, it really didn't." Both Annabeth and Clarisse said. Then Annabeth turned to Percy.

"And you are just lucky you pointed in the opposite direction of where the flag really was, or I would have made your life miserable." She said warningly. Percy gave her a crooked grin, but made no attempt to pull her closer to plant a kiss on the top of her head like he wanted to, he was still trapped by his mother. Absently, he wondered what she would do when they read about stuff that happened on this quest. He never did tell her about everything that happened.

 **("Yeah," one of her... made our cabin look stupid.")**

"That's another thing I need to talk to them about... losing sight of the objective for petty revenge..." Ares muttered.

 **("You do that without my help,")**

People groaned and facepalmed. "That is the same attitude that has you making enemies with half the gods in Olympus." Annabeth muttered.

"Hey! It's not half..."

"Close enough." People muttered.

 **(I told them. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.)**

"Ya think?"

 **(Two of them came at... me straight in the ribs.)**

Sally gave a little scream and held Percy tighter. She really did not like hearing about his fights. She barely made it through the Minotaur attack as it was.

"Mom, can't breathe!" Percy gasped. Paul grimaced and came to pry Sally off him. He led her back to their original seat and sat with her wrapped up in a hug, whispering in her ear.

 **(If I hadn't been wearing... my teeth out of my mouth.)**

People grimaced. That wasn't a good feeling either.

 **(One of her cabinmates...** **cold at the same time.)**

"And now I don't even flinch." Percy muttered.

"What?!" Sally asked, alarmed. She knew he was a demigod, and that came with its share of injuries and fights, but... just how often did he get hurt, and how bad? Paul barely restrained her from going back over to hug her boy.

 **("No maiming," I...** **my dessert privilege.")**

"What?!" Sally yelled, getting up and glaring at Poseidon.

"They would be in more trouble than simply losing dessert privileges, Mrs. Blofis." Chiron said, slowly backing away while Poseidon too shrank away, wondering what he did wrong.

"Yeah, mom. He got KP duty for the next three weeks. And stable cleaning duty on top of it. Apparently, the pegasi weren't too happy when they found out he was in there for harming ME." Percy said, calming his mother down. Everyone who'd been there shuddered. Those pegasi really knew how to make a mess when it was somebody they were mad with doing the cleaning up.

 **(He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash.)**

Ares groaned. This fight just ended. And not favorably for his children.

 **(They all laughed. I figured... double-espresso jelly beans.)**

"Dude! Can I have some?!" Leo yelled excitedly, looking up from his building project.

"NO!" Everybody yelled at once. They knew that Leo with caffeine was not going to be a good thing.

 **(Clarisse and her cabinmates came into the creek to get me,)**

"Bad idea." Ares and a few others muttered.

Clarisse grimaced. "In our defense, we didn't know who his parent was at that point." She defended herself and her siblings.

 **(but I stood to meet them... he crumpled into the water.)**

Apollo winced. "That's hard."

"That had to have felt strange." Someone else muttered.

 **(Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me.)**

Again, Clarisse was oddly calm about her siblings being called ugly.

 **(I slammed one in the... Both of them backed up quick.)**

"Go Percy!" Was the general cheer, while Hazel and Frank muttered that they would have backed up too. They saw Percy during the war games, after all.

Clarisse scowled.

 **(Ugly Number Four didn't... snapped it like a twig.)**

Ares shot out of his seat and looked like he wanted to strangle Percy, that was a gift from him after all! He didn't give gifts like that lightly.

Poseidon suddenly appeared between him and his son, making him stumble to a stop, when he looked over his uncle's shoulder, he saw Percy standing with his sword drawn and the beginnings of a small hurricane at his feet. He looked ready for anything. He didn't notice the other demigods, especially the Romans looking at him with awe at the way he was so willing to stand up to a god with no fear or hesitation in his face.

"You will remember yourself, Ares, and you will remember where we are. If you touch my son..." Poseidon warned lowly. Ares looked like he was about to attack Poseidon for a moment, before he suddenly scoffed and slouched back to his throne. He would deny ever pouting. He did, however, summon another electric spear and make it appear in front of Clarisse, glaring at Percy to warn him against breaking this one too.

Clarisse's eyes lit up, and she took it carefully with a soft 'thank you, father'. She then proceeded to inspect it before carefully strapping it over her back. He wasn't offended by her inspecting it, after all, it was only smart practice to inspect your weapons.

 **("Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!")**

Hades cleared his throat. He wasn't too thrilled with all the death-related insults the demigods seemed to like throwing around. She looked at him with wide eyes. He didn't say anything though.

 **(She probably would've said...** **banner lifted high.)**

"That's my son!" Hermes yelled happily. Luke grinned shyly, while _Luke_ looked at him almost like he grew a second head, before hiding his expression and grinning too, like his older self.

 _Luke_ didn't know why his father was acting like he really cared, or why he was acting like a proud father. In fact, he actually had a bad feeling that his older self might have told Hermes everything when they went to talk the night before. He would keep an eye out.

 **(He was flanked by a...** **shouted. "It was a trick.")**

"A trick you walked right into." Ares sighed. He wasn't mad, ok, he was. But he could recognize a good strategy when he saw one. War and strategy was his domain, after all. Even if his father tended to use Athena as his top strategist for some reason.

 **(They staggered after Luke,... and turned to silver.)**

The Romans looked stunned. They didn't have anything like that, they weren't even sure how they could make something like that... well, they could probably find a child or Legacy of Trivia (Hecate in Greece). Reyna was sure there was at least one of them in New Rome somewhere. Percy smirked.

 **(The boar and spear... blew the conch horn.)**

"What is with you guys and conch horns?" Reyna wondered out loud.

"I think they were a gift from Lord Poseidon to the camp." Annabeth said, looking at Poseidon in question to make sure she had her facts straight. He nodded and shook his hand in a 'sort of' gesture.

"One of my children started it, I just decided to give him a new horn once his old one broke. I also made this one so it wouldn't break as easily if somebody was foolish enough to make him angry." Poseidon explained.

 **(The game was over...** **she wasn't there.)**

A few people groaned. "Hate it when she does that." Both Annabeth's had satisfied looks on their faces. The Romans just looked confused.

Annabeth's face fell after a moment when she remembered that her beloved hat hadn't worked in months. Percy looked at her in concern, but she waved him off. She'd tell him later if she remembered.

 **("Where the heck did... taken it off her head.)**

"I did." Both Annabeth's chorused.

 **(I felt myself getting... just been invisible.)**

"There's a lot that you seem to be unfazed by when you get angry." Will noted. Percy shrugged.

Amphitrite sighed, "Another Poseidon thing." She muttered.

 **("You set me up," I... it all figured out.")**

"Of course I did." Annabeth shrugged. She carefully avoided looking at Sally, knowing the woman would not be happy about it.

Athena nodded. "It was a good plan. Ares children are always well known for holding grudges, and Percy did humiliate one of their own." Ares winced, but nodded in agreement.

 **(Annabeth shrugged. "I...** **"You didn't need help.")**

"No you did not." Annabeth said proudly. Her boyfriend was powerful even with barely a week of training. True, he was also in the water at the time, but all the water really did was momentarily give him an energy boost and make his sword less awkward for the moment. At least, that she could tell.

 **(Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?")**

"Um, he got cut by a sword." Gwen said slowly, looking at Annabeth oddly.

"I know that, that wasn't what I was asking." She huffed. Percy chuckled and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer.

 **("Sword cut," I said...** **scar, and disappeared.)**

Gwen's eyes went wide. "Oh."

Reyna looked interested too. "Is that another Poseidon thing?" Hazel asked. That could come in handy on the Alaska trip... Percy nodded.

 **("I- I don't get it," I said.)**

Percy shook his head. "I really didn't."

 **(Annabeth was thinking hard... out of the water, Percy.")**

"Finally! Somebody figures it out!" Triton cried, throwing his hands in the air. Honestly, Percy had unknowingly been dropping hints for the entire week between when he finally woke up and this game. The older kids had the grace to look ashamed.

 **("What-"** **"Just do it."...** **, but Annabeth steadied me.)**

"Holy... Do your powers really affect you that much?" _Luke_ asked incredulously.

Percy shrugged. "Only when I haven't used them in a while. It's like a muscle, you know? Or a sword-skill. You don't use it, your going to be out of shape and rusty. This was kind of the first I'd used them with two exceptions before this. And fresh water is the worse." He got a mischievous smirk on his face. "A little emo kid I know once told me, 'with great power, comes great need to take a nap. Wake me when we get there.'"

Everybody blinked and the Future Greeks all turned to Nico, he just blinked at them, like 'what?' As soon as they looked away though, he shot Percy a look that promised retribution. Percy smiled back innocently and then made the universal sign for, 'bring it on.'

 **("Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is _not_ good. I didn't want... I assumed it would be Zeus...")**

"Why would you just assume it was me?" Zeus asked, curious, but also a little offended.

She shrugged without really caring. "You already broke the oath twice, even if I only knew about the once with Thalia. And he was too nice to what I imagined a child of Hades would be... no offense, sir." She said to Hades. "This was before I actually met any of your children, and all I had to go on were stories. And I was just hoping it wasn't Poseidon because I honestly liked Percy as a potential friend, but with the rivalry between Poseidon and my mother..." She trailed off and shrugged again.

 **(Before I could ask... ripped through the forest.)**

"That's not good." A few who weren't there muttered. Luke paled and muttered something that nobody could quite catch, except for Hermes since it was meant as a prayer to him, sort of.

 **(The campers' cheering died...** **Annabeth drew her sword.)**

"Not her knife?"

She shrugged. "It was in Cabin Nines workshop, I gave it to Beckendorf to look over." Some people nodded in understanding.

They weren't too trusting when it came to their weapons. Beckendorf was the only one any of them had trusted with them. It's not that they thought anybody at camp would deliberately sabotage them... they were just paranoid.

 **(There on the rocks... and fangs like daggers.)**

Percy grimaced. "And it definitely wasn't Mrs. O'Leary." Said Hellhound padded back over to her human, and laid down behind him, resting her head on the back of his couch, whining at the thought of him being in danger from another of her kind.

He smiled and reached up to scratch her neck.

 **(It was looking straight at me.)**

Sally squeaked a little again, but Paul continued holding her and keeping her from smothering the boy. She wasn't usually like this, but then again, Percy never went into detail about his fights or his life as a demigod in general.

A few people muttered, "That's not good."

 **(Nobody moved except Annabeth,...** **shadow with teeth-)**

"You have the strangest descriptions." Dakota muttered suddenly before drinking more Kool-Aid. Honestly, people were surprised he was so calm and quiet right now compared to how he usually was.

"But strangely accurate." Jason added on, looking at Percy oddly. "You also seem to only really make them when you're in danger. Why?" He asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Percy just shrugged. Honestly, it just seemed like a default mode or something when his mind couldn't handle the stress. But, as far as coping mechanisms went... he'd seen worse.

 **(and just as it hit... ripping through my armor,)**

Sally gave a jerk, she was trying really hard to gain control of herself and not start smothering her son. She wasn't that kind of parent before, she wasn't going to be that kind of parent now.

Besides, he was standing next to a creek, and Chiron was right there.

 **(there was a cascade... dead at my feet.)**

Mrs. O'Leary whimpered at hearing of the death of another Hellhound. Even if the Hellhound died while attacking her human.

Percy reached back and hugged her.

 **(By some miracle,... pounds of delicatessen meat.)**

"You also need to stop joking about your own possible death like that." Apollo said with a frown. Poseidon and Sally nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

That would be good.

 **(Chiron trotted up next..** **. they're not supposed to...")**

"No there not." Hades muttered with a grim smile on his face. "I can accept monsters being summoned as practical jokes as long as they are within the targets ability level to defeat and Chiron knows about it, as seems to happen already. Besides, it's good practice. But this was no joke."

Hermes discreetly sought out Luke, who caught his gaze and grimaced. The other Future Greeks seemed to either be glaring at him, or staring at a wall while gripping their weapons or clenching their fists like they were trying really hard not to punch him.

 _Annabeth_ seemed like she was running through possibilities in her head, and not finding the answer she wanted. Maybe because she wasn't looking at the boy next to her. _Luke,_ for his part, looked horrified. And it was easy to guess why if you noticed his eyes darting to _Annabeth_ next to him. She almost got injured!

 **("Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp.")**

"Which only makes it worse." Percy murmured.

 **(Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten,)**

Luke snorted quietly so only the other futures could really hear. "I was too shocked at seeing Annabeth almost be taken out by the Hellhound _I_ summoned. Of course I forgot about the banner." He muttered.

 **(his moment of glory...** **Percy summoned it!")**

"Why on earth would Percy have summoned something to almost kill him? Not to mention, he'd been there for a week at this point! How would he even know how to summon it?" _Annabeth_ asked somewhat scornfully.

"He'd also been staying in Cabin Eleven for a week. Who knows what they taught him." _Clarisse_ said just as scornfully.

Percy smirked and the Stoll brothers grinned evilly. Suddenly, nobody wanted to know what the Stoll brothers could have possibly taught somebody who was already the king of pranks before he ever arrived at camp.

 _Annabeth_ opened her mouth to retort, but Chiron stepped in. Honestly, why were these two always fighting? "That's enough. We all know Percy didn't summon it." He said firmly.

Percy whispered in Annabeth's ear that he forgot how much the two of them used to fight. Annabeth sighed.

 **("Be quiet, child,"...** **get in the water.")**

"Finally." Poseidon and Sally breathed a sigh of relief. The only reason they didn't start yelling for people to stop standing there and heal their boy was because it was a book.

 **("I'm okay."** **"No,...** **of the campers gasped.)**

"Ah, this, I believe, would be his claiming. Either I was getting desperate because of what was going on, since I normally wait a few weeks to allow my children to settle in and meet the other campers without the stigma that comes with being a Big 3 kid, or I felt he'd built up sufficient relationships with the other campers." He hoped it was the latter.

Percy winced. "Unfortunately, you were getting desperate." He paused, "And I apologize now for everything I might have said in upcoming chapters." Poseidon looked confused, but nodded.

 **("Look, I- I don't... apologize. "I'm sorry...")**

"You apologize for the strangest things sometimes." Luke muttered, shaking his head. Honestly, he thought Percy might have apologized for Luke always trying to fight and kill him if he could.

Percy, both Percy's, shrugged and Sally sighed, turning to glare at the corner where Gabe was sitting.

 **(But they weren't watching... above my head.)**

"I've been wondering, how DO you claim kids? Because we usually find out when they get their first service stripe, if Lupa doesn't tell them during their time with her." Reyna said.

"Service stripe? You mean that tattoo Jason has?" Annabeth asked curiously. The Romans all nodded and held out their arms, revealing said tattoos.

Percy winced. He remembered how painful it looked when Frank got it. "Not looking forward to that." He muttered.

"I think we will read about the claiming itself in a moment." _Annabeth_ said. She looked disturbed when she saw the Roman tattoos. She would strike with beads on a necklace, thank you very much.

 **("Percy," Annabeth said,...** **spear: a trident.)**

"Whoa. Much more dramatic, depending on how we find out their parentage." Reyna muttered. Many in the Legion would say these Greeks were a bunch of wimps who couldn't handle a bit of pain or discipline considering the way they acted, or even the way they were claimed.

But Reyna had also seen them fight. Just look at what Percy did during the War Games. She had a feeling their lack of discipline was what made them so good. They were naturals.

 **("Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is _really_ not good.")**

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Poseidon asked, slightly offended.

Annabeth blushed. "I was kinda hoping Percy would be my ticket to getting out of there, and going on a quest. I figured he would never be let out now that he was a Big 3 kid." She said, looking down at her feet. She shrugged then, "That, and I was starting to consider him as my friend, and I thought we wouldn't be able to be friends anymore."

Percy didn't know whether to be hurt or amused that she was going to use him to get out of camp like that. Apparently, Poseidon couldn't decide either.

 **("It is determined,"...** **look happy about it.)**

Clarisse scowled. "We weren't."

"Many of Cabin Eleven weren't..."

"... either. Us claimed kids..."

"...were cool with it,..."

"...it meant more space..."

"...was freed up, but..."

"...the unclaimed kids..." Travis and Connor said sadly.

Luke nodded. "As soon as we were back at the cabin, we nearly had a riot on our hands. Many of them were angry over the fact that Percy was only there a week, and he got claimed, while some of them had been at camp for years without a word from their parent."

Dionysus sighed. "The worse part is, I know exactly who the parent of the unclaimed is." He murmured. "Most of them are minor gods or goddesses, but some of them are on this council."

"Why don't..." Luke started.

"I can't. For one, I'm forbidden. For another... which is worse, not knowing who your parent is, and hoping? Or knowing who they are, but they still refuse to acknowledge you?" Dionysus asked.

"The former." Both Annabeth's said. They went through that.

 **("My father?" I asked,...** **of the Sea God.")**

Will closed the book with a snap. "That's the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?" He asked, holding the book up.

Poseidon raised his hand, and Will walked over to hand him the book. He quickly found the right chapter and cleared his throat, **Chapter nine. I Am Offered a Quest.**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own none of the bold words. I wish I did.

 _ **("My father?" I asked,... of the Sea God.")**_

 _Will closed the book with a snap. "That's the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?" He asked, holding the book up._

 _Poseidon raised his hand, and Will walked over to hand him the book. He quickly found the right chapter and cleared his throat,_ _ **Chapter nine. I Am Offered a Quest.**_

"Uh, oh" Hermes and Apollo muttered. They had a feeling they knew what this quest would be. And considering that both Zeus and Hades were after the boy over this... yeah, this wasn't going to be good.

 **(The next morning,... and a toiletry bag.)**

"That's not a lot of stuff." Rachel noted. Percy shrugged. It was what the camp gave him when he arrived. He wasn't the only one, either. He heard from some of the other campers in Hermes cabin that they arrived with nothing but the clothes on their backs too.

 **(I got to sit at... listen to anybody else.)**

"Cool." Most of the Hermes crew breathed. The other four Big 3 children all winced. This was not cool, Percy was probably miserable. If there was one thing all of them could agree on, it was that they hated being singled out for being a Big 3 kid.

Poseidon shook his head at them, he knew Percy would not like it either. His son liked his space, yes, but he didn't like being singled out.

 **(And I was absolutely miserable.)**

"What? Why?" All the Hermes crew cried, looking at Percy like he grew a second head. He raised an eyebrow, but it was Nico who answered.

"How would you like it if you were just singled out and separated like that?" He asked.

"Being alone sucks." Thalia agreed.

"It makes it even harder to connect with your peers." Jason said.

"You are the first to be blamed when something happens, because you are more powerful than the others." Hazel tacked on the end.

Percy nodded, "I had just started to feel like I was accepted."

Everyone looked at the Big 3 kids in shock. You knew it was serious when all five of them were in complete agreement. Especially Thalia and Percy, those two fought like cats and dogs. Sure, they were family and they loved each other to death, but they could rarely carry on a conversation without insulting each other or bickering.

Poseidon sighed, "And that is why I try to give my kids a few weeks without the camp knowing who their father is, so they can make those connections, so people can see the real person without being in my shadow. Unfortunately, it would appear that circumstances were not in our favor this time." He said regretfully. "There is a reason why my children are historically the most well liked in camp, because people know them before they learn their parentage, and then after they learn their parentage, they realize that the only thing that changed regarding my child is that they now know who their father is. Of course, there have been a few that let the knowledge go to their heads and are generally the most hated in camp, but that is rare."

"It helps that our father doesn't have a massive ego that rubs off on us." Percy said with an impish grin. Poseidon nodded his head, laughing while Jason and Thalia glared at him. He noticed their glares and said, "I didn't say it was you two." He pointed out.

"You may not have mentioned us, but everyone knows our Father has an ego the size of Mount Everest." Thalia said with narrowed eyes.

"Hey!" Zeus protested, but Poseidon got his laughter under control and started reading again before

he could go any further.

 **(Just when I'd started... some rare disease.)**

The Hermes crew winced at the thought. Ok, yeah, maybe they all had a point. That would make anyone miserable.

 **(Nobody mentioned the... been considered safe.)**

"Most of us were wondering who could have summoned it. Sure, we summon monsters all the time, for training and hunting mostly, and the occasional prank, but nobody there would ever summon a Hellhound." Clarisse said, "But, yeah. We were also kind of scared of what it could mean that a Hellhound showed up moments before you were claimed.

 **(The other campers steered... the Ares folks in the woods,)**

"We also didn't want your dad to get mad at one of us for hurting you in training." Connor said with a shrug. The other campers who had been there looked ashamed of how they avoided him, especially after hearing how miserable it made him. And he was right, he was accepted in cabin eleven before this, and they honestly really liked him. Then they had to go and let finding his parentage change how they saw him.

Poseidon put the book down and stared at him blankly, Triton and Aphrodite raised an eyebrow at the campers. All three of them were wondering where on earth they got that idea, it was well known that, while Poseidon was one of the more caring parents, he also let his children fight their own battles, kind of like Ares. Of course, he also stepped in if he could if it was clear the fight was too much, unlike Ares.

And besides, if you didn't get hurt a little in training, then how were you going to learn the moves so you could avoid getting hurt during a real fight?

Connor started to squirm under Poseidon's stare, so he slowly raised the book, still staring, and didn't take his eyes away until he started reading again. Inwardly, he was laughing his head off, but outwardly, his face was blank. Percy hid his smirk in Annabeth's hair, he knew what his father was doing.

 **(so my lessons with... up in the process.)**

Poseidon looked up again and nodded his thanks to Luke for not treating his son any differently, other than pushing him harder. But that was a different he could live with.

 **("You're going to need all the training you can get,")**

Hermes sighed softly and looked at his son with a sense of pride, that right there showed him that Luke was fighting Kronos in some small way.

Poseidon nodded in agreement to what Luke said, that was exactly why he was going to take Percy under the sea for a while.

 **(he promised, as we... Fifty more repetitions.")**

Ares nodded in approval.

 **(Annabeth still taught... Got to make a plan...")**

"Wow, you really did not like him in the beginning, did you?" Will asked in amusement.

Annabeth shook her head, even while Athena nodded, that was how it should be between a Sea-spawn and one of her daughters.

Percy grinned and pulled Annabeth closer, kissing the top of her head. Sure, they got off to a bad start, but they learned to work together for the sake of the quest. And then, they became rather close friends, then they started dating while ignoring all the bets that exchanged hands afterwards.

 **(Even Clarisse kept her... every day than be ignored.)**

"Then you should have said something!" Clarisse exclaimed. "I'd have challenged you every chance I got if I knew." She grumbled. Percy shrugged. He probably would have, eventually, if it weren't for the simple fact that she, like everyone else, had been avoiding him like the plague.

 **(I knew somebody at... floated around on the page.)**

Poseidon stopped reading out loud to read the article to himself first. His face darkened with anger as he read. How. Dare. They accuse his son of harming Sally, the boys own mother. He turned to glare at Gabe in his corner, and started up a new mini-hurricane that was restricted to that corner before he forced himself to read the article out loud.

 **BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER**

 **FREAK CAR ACCIDENT**

 **By Eileen Smythe**

 **Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.**

 **Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident.**

 **Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past.**

 **Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.**

People were shocked. Luke lowered his head in shame. He had been the one to place that paper, he hadn't wanted to, but Kronos thought it would make good motivation for them to send Percy on the quest already. They had thought the Hellhound and Percy being claimed would have been enough, but for some reason it wasn't.

 **(The phone number was circled in black marker.)**

A few people sucked in a breath as they recognized the threat for what it was. This was either a prank done in extremely poor taste, or somebody wanted him out of camp.

 **(I wadded up the... had my worst dream yet.)**

"Of the time, anyway." Percy muttered.

 **(I was running along... hills in the distance.)**

"Los Angeles." Nico and Hades said. Poseidon did not look happy as he continued.

 **(About a hundred yards... darker, and the wind rose.)**

The council looked like they had all seen a ghost. None of them could remember those two ever fighting this bad before.

 **(I had to stop them... fighting over a toy.)**

This time, not even the Romans could keep themselves from laughing out of respect to the King. They were laughing just as hard as everyone else while Zeus sat there and scowled at everyone. He barely refrained from using his lighting on any of the laughing demigods, especially his brat of a nephew, who was the one to dream this up in the first place.

Poseidon chuckled, this did sound remarkably like Zeus, just an overgrown kindergartner. Especially in the beginning, after they defeated Kronos. None of them knew Zeus, they had all grown up together, just the five of them within their fathers stomach for years. It took a while for them to warm up to him, and he was a whiny brat the entire time.

 **(The waves got...,** _ **Stop it! Stop fighting!)**_

Apollo snorted. "Hate to tell you this, kid, but once those two start, nothing will stop them short of victory or for the both of them to lose interest in whatever they are fighting for. Once in a while, Hera or Aunt Hestia can get them to stop, with Amphitrite's help, but..." He shook his head. Percy sighed and nodded while Triton scowled. His father wouldn't even listen to him.

 **(The ground shook... it turned my blood to ice.)**

The gods sat up, alert. Who was this... this didn't sound like Hades, which is what they normally thought when the thinking of anything underground.

But at the same time, the only one they could possibly think of that would match that description was Kronos. Of course, Zeus was still denying the possibility, but the others were thinking of ways they can counter his rise or fight him if it actually happened.

 _ **(Come down, little hero,**_ **the voice crooned.** _ **Come down!)**_

Poseidon stopped reading and exchanged concerned looks with Sally and Amphitrite. He was definitely bringing his son under the sea. If not for extra training, then at the very least so he could protect him. He was rather protective of his children. And he could easily say that Percy was his favorite demigod child by far.

 **(The sand split beneath... darkness swallowed me.)**

Poseidon paused again. Demigod dreams were usually prophetic to something that was going to happen, or a warning to what could happen if the demigod wasn't careful. He was going to have a hard time getting Zeus to leave his son alone if Zeus decided that this was a warning that Percy could fall and turn on them.

He met Apollo's eyes and he shrugged and shook his head. He didn't know which it was, and even if he did, he wouldn't say. Or rather couldn't. Poseidon was one of the few who knew that the Fates themselves dictated what Apollo could and could not say when it came to his prophecies. Which was why Poseidon was the only one aside from Artemis and Hestia that ever defended him when something happened and the rest of the council got on Apollo's case about not warning them.

 **(I woke up, sure I was falling.)**

"I hate it when that happens." Pretty much everyone muttered. That was the worst feeling.

 **(I was still in bed in... "Mr. D wants to see you.")**

"Oh this is going to be good." Poseidon muttered with a suspicious glare at the camp director, who just blinked innocently at him. The man was already acting more like his old self since Zeus let him have wine again. Of course, whether or not his wine ban would still be lifted after the reading was anybodies guess.

 **("Why?"**

 **"He wants to kill...)**

Poseidon growled, but kept reading.

 **(I mean, I'd better... to deliver their verdict.)**

"They wouldn't dare harm you." Poseidon assured his son, both of them, while glaring at those on the council that would be pushing for the boy to be killed before he got to powerful. Namely, Zeus, Ares, Athena, and Hera. Dionysus might, and potentially Artemis. Although Artemis would probably simply be because Percy was a boy. He chose to ignore the fact that Percy said it was a crime for him to be alive. Because it kind of was... but it wasn't his crime, it was Poseidon's. And his son would not be punished for his father's actions. Not if he could help it.

 **(Over Long Island Sound,... coming in our direction.)**

A few people frowned, and some glanced at Zeus. He was the only one they could think of that would send a storm to the camp. Although they really wished he would keep their children out of this.

 **(I asked Grover if... weather always does.")**

"Really?" Reyna asked in interest. That would certainly be interesting and beneficial... Not that Camp Jupiter got much bad weather, being out in California and all that, but still. Maybe if they had some way of keeping wildfires away from New Rome...

 **(I realized he was... this one was huge.)**

"It was." Chris muttered. Percy shifted somewhat guiltily. Technically, it was his fault. Zeus was kind of punishing the whole camp because of him. Despite the fact that he didn't actually do anything.

 **(At the volleyball pit, the... their eyes on the storm.)**

Everyone who was there nodded in agreement. Of course they kept an eye on it, normally all clouds that appeared on their horizon would dissipate before ever developing into storms that big.

 **(Grover and I walked up... shirt with his Diet Coke,)**

Dionysus grimaced and tightened his grip on the wine he still held in his hand. He despised Diet Coke. The stuff was disgusting.

 **(just as he had on...-Beard is your father.")**

Poseidon scowled, but didn't say anything. He didn't really care what everyone else called him, unless they called him that.

 **(A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.)**

"I thought influencing the weather was a Zeus thing." Frank muttered.

Poseidon, Percy, Triton, and Amphitrite blinked at the boy and they all gestured towards the corner where the mini hurricane was still going on. Frank looked over there and blinked before he blushed in embarrassment. Oh, right.

 **("Blah, blah, blah,"... clopping back and forth.)**

Hermes clenched his teeth and glared at Dionysus, not happy at all with how his sons subjects were terrified of the wine god.

 **("If I had my way,"... with a lot of trouble.)**

"Dionysus." Poseidon warned. Dionysus frowned and shrugged while inwardly he cringed. He wouldn't have actually done it. He didn't feel like spending time in the dungeons of Atlantis. In his opinion, that place rivaled the Fields of Punishment, especially when Poseidon was mad at you.

Zeus, though, looked like he approved of the plan to combust Percy.

 **(But Chiron seems to... back to your father.")**

There was a short, disbelieving laugh from the corner the MS were sitting in. The bigger figure turned to one of the others and leaned in to whisper quickly. Whatever the other figure said, the bigger one's shoulders shook with laughter as he slapped a hand to his forehead and shook his head in disbelief.

The other figures were also shaking in their efforts not to laugh. Two of the figures looked at each other and shrugged.

They either didn't know what their companions found so funny, or this involved some kind of inside joke at their expense.

 **("Mr. D-" Chiron warned... But it's deadly foolishness.")**

Poseidon frowned, but inwardly sighed. As much as Dionysus pretended he didn't care about the kids, he really did. Him warning Percy against this quest was proof enough. Of course, he would never stop a demigod from going on a quest, but that didn't stop him from trying to warn them away. Not that they could refuse... well, they could. But the gods didn't exactly take that very well.

 **(Dionysus rose, and... an Atlantic bottlenose.)**

Percy and Poseidon shrugged. "Could be worse." Poseidon said.

"Yeah, I like Atlantic bottlenose's. They provide surprisingly good conversation. If you can get past their... flightiness, anyway." Percy agreed. Poseidon nodded wisely. Everyone else either stared at them in disbelief or facepalmed. That was so not the point.

Nobody saw some of the MS turn to the one who was being questioned earlier in disbelief. Not that anybody could see their expressions, but they could read their body language.

 **(Do you understand?... feels you must do.")**

"He said your name." Will said quietly. "He only does that with the new kids and the ones he doesn't think he will ever see alive again."

Percy shrugged. That quest had been a little... intense. Especially for a first quest.

"I think I know what this quest will entail." Poseidon muttered quietly. He thought about what he knew so far and what he had guessed. Zeus's Bolt had been stolen, and Percy was being blamed, which meant that he, Poseidon was being blamed. Then, Hades sends his Furies after Percy, searching for something. Then, to top it all off, Hades takes Sally, presumably as leverage of some kind.

He had a feeling he knew exactly what this quest would entail. And he didn't like it. Not. One. Bit.

 **(Dionysus picked up..., please. And Grover.")**

"At least he was polite about it." Percy grumbled, shooting a glare at Dionysus. Who ignored him while continuing to enjoy his wine.

 **(We did. Chiron laid... he hadn't gotten to use.)**

Dionysus hit the arm of his throne and cursed. Even when he wasn't there, he still couldn't win.

Chiron grinned smugly.

 **("Tell me, Percy," he...** _**hellhounds for breakfast.)**_

"I could. They are kind of easy to fight." Percy muttered, reaching behind him and patting Mrs. O'Leary reassuringly on the side. He hated having to fight Hellhounds. He could take them out easily, that wasn't the problem. It was the fact that he had one for a pet. And he loved his dog. Every time he fought a Hellhound and killed it, he felt like he was betraying Mrs. O'Leary somehow.

Artemis frowned. This sounded like something any boy would say.

 _ **(**_ **But I didn't feel... shot it, I'd be dead.")**

Artemis frowned while the Future Greeks nodded. This boy was very humble for a male. He was different. And that made her curious.

 **("You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done.")**

Sally frowned. She didn't like the sound of that.

 **("Done... with what?"**

 **"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?")**

"You haven't even told him what it is yet." Poseidon said with a raised eyebrow.

Chiron shrugged. His book self seemed rather distracted nearly every time he came up in this book so far.

"The way he worded it sounds kind of like Mission Impossible." Leo whispered to Jason and Piper.

"Just, you know, less dramatic." He said. Piper raised an eyebrow but shrugged. It kind of did. Jason, though, had no clue what they were talking about.

But then, he was raised in Camp Jupiter, and only really left for a quest. So... he didn't really spend a whole lot of time in the mortal world, which meant he didn't know what movies and such were out there. Leo and Piper had been trying to educate him, but they didn't have a lot of time between defending the camp, training, building the Argo, and planning the trip to Rome.

 **(I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.)**

"That's right. You had to go on a successful quest and bring Percy back from it safely in order to get your license." Will suddenly remembered.

Grover grimaced. He still wished this quest never happened. Along with that Polyphemus' Island fiasco. Honestly, most demigods first quest was to go find something that another god 'stole' and hid from its owner, or to defeat a certain monster, or even simply running errands. No... Percy's first quest is to break into the Underworld and talk Hades into just handing over the Bolt.

Only to find out when they get there that, Surprise! Hades never had the stupid thing in the first place.

 **("Um, sir," I said... sea were boiling together.)**

Amphitrite reached out and took her husband's hand. The rest of the gods all frowned again at hearing how bad the fight was.

 **("Poseidon and Zeus,"... stolen, aren't they?")**

Athena leaned forward in her throne. Maybe now they would finally find out what was going on. It made her really mad that everyone else had it figured out but she kept coming up blank.

 **(Chiron and Grover... excitement. "It must be!")**

Grover sighed, "This was before I knew what this quest would actually involve." He said in despair. _Grover_ looked more than a little scared by this.

 **("Only the Oracle can determine.")**

"Sadly, it wasn't Rachel. At least she isn't nearly as creepy." Percy muttered to Annabeth. She nodded in agreement.

 **(Chiron stroked his bristly... precise: a lightning bolt.")**

Zeus slowly sat up in his throne. His hand went to the Master Bolt at his side. He narrowed his gaze at Poseidon, who noticed and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

 **(I laughed nervously... god-level explosives.")**

Jason and Piper glanced at Leo on the floor between them when they heard a whimper. He had looked up from the machine he was still building to gaze longingly at the weapon Zeus was still clutching protectively while staring at Poseidon suspiciously.

Uh-oh.

They each grabbed a shoulder and held on to keep him in place. The last thing they needed was for Leo to try and 'study' the master bolt.

 **("Oh." "Zeus's master bolt,"... bombs look like firecrackers.")**

"Whoa." A few people muttered. Piper and Jason looked around and noticed that both Hephaestus and Beckendorf were looking at the master bolt just as longingly as Leo. They figured it must be a Hephaestus thing, Hephaestus must have been wanting to get his hands on it for centuries. Study the craftsmanship. Although the other two looked more controlled than Leo did.

 **("And it's missing?")**

Zeus held onto his bolt even tighter and started glaring at Poseidon. He had finally figured out why the boy was here, and he finally remembered the title of the book. He opened his mouth to accuse Poseidon, when Percy spoke up, glaring at him.

Nobody saw Athena's slack jaw throughout this entire conversation between Percy and Chiron. How on earth had she missed this? It seemed so obvious now!

"Neither I, nor my father had anything to do with this. So, don't you dare accuse us without proof." He said icily. Some people looked at him and shivered, scooting farther away from him, they had never seen him like this. When they looked though, they saw Poseidon and Triton staring at him with the same icy looks on their faces.

 **("Stolen," Chiron said.)**

Zeus growled and held his bolt closer, but didn't say anything. Poseidon and his sons were still giving him that look.

 **("By who?" "By** _ **whom**_ **,"... teacher. "By you.")**

"POSEIDON!" Zeus boomed, standing up and aiming his lightning bolt at him.

"SIT DOWN!" Hestia's sharp reprimand cut across him like a torpedo. She glared at him, she was getting tired of him always being so quick to blame. "Now, I would thank you to remember that the boy has already denied all involvement, not to mention the fact that at this point in the books, he has only known of our world for a little over a week. He could not have taken anything." She continued, staring at her youngest sibling. Honestly, why did she have to be the oldest again? It was so exhausting.

"Whoa." Several of the demigods said, eyeing Hestia carefully. She raised an eyebrow and mentally smirked.

 _Percy,_ who had been quiet for a while now, muttered that he couldn't even steal from Gabe, Lily was the klepto of the two.

 **(My mouth fell open... had an argument.)**

Everyone could guess what the argument was. The younger, past demigods, had a pretty good idea that they were now discussing the same argument the future Greeks had interrupted when they first appeared.

 **(The usual nonsense... disasters,' et cetera.)**

Poseidon sighed, bored and annoyed. Truthfully, he only got into those arguments to humor Zeus. They got old centuries ago, but he humored his brother, like any good older brother would. Even if Zeus was a whiny little brat sometimes, and didn't treat his siblings at all like how he should treat them. The one's he treated decently were Hera and Hestia. For one thing, he _married_ Hera, and for another... who didn't like Hestia?

Of course, it was also a matter of pride, especially when he brought up the air/sea disaster argument. He already knew who Rhea liked best, she admitted it to him in private. She couldn't stand Zeus's attitude.

 **(Afterward, Zeus realized... under his very nose.)**

Hephaestus sighed, "How many times have I mentioned upgrading the security on this place? And how many times have you ignored my suggestions?" He muttered to himself.

 **(He immediately blamed Poseidon.)**

Poseidon stopped reading to sigh, "Of course he blamed me, something goes wrong, it's Poseidon's fault. A prophecy was made that he doesn't like, it's Apollo's fault. Forgetting the fact that he can't control the Oracle." He muttered.

 **(Now, a god cannot... human hero to take it.")**

Poseidon sighed again as he watched Zeus nodding along with Chiron's explanation. Naturally, the first person Zeus would blame would be Percy. He would probably use the fact that Percy was in New York over Christmas as his proof. Forgetting the fact that the present time's Percy knew nothing of the Greek world even existing.

"Ten bucks says he blames Percy." Leo whispered to the closest demigods. He forgot the part where Chiron already claimed Zeus was blaming Percy.

They all looked like he was crazy. "Suckers bet." Thalia whispered back with a smirk.

 **("But I didn't-")**

"Exactly." Percy muttered. He was still sore about this.

 **("Patience and listen, child,"... his brother's lightning.)**

"Influence I have only used twice, and both times because you were throwing a temper tantrum and would have destroyed half the world in your childish fit if I didn't take away your ammunition." Poseidon said with a hard stare at his brother.

Zeus glared at him, ignoring the snickering demigods. They never really heard people calling Zeus childish before, and now both Percy and his father called him childish to his face.

 **(Zeus believes Poseidon... Zeus from his throne.)**

The sound of many palms being slapped across people's forehead's, and then dragged down their faces in exasperation was heard. Zeus's older siblings were wondering when on earth their youngest became so paranoid. 1) Poseidon never once made an legitimate attempt at getting the throne. 2) Poseidon already had a kingdom to run. One that was actually more extensive than Zeus's was, along with Hades, since those two actually had subjects and a city. Or, multiple cities, in Poseidon's case.

Well... technically, Zeus had subjects... but all of those subjects happened to fall under everyone else's domains or answered to somebody else pretty much all the time.

 **(The only thing Zeus... has found his thief.")**

"I didn't even know Olympus existed when I was in New York over the winter holidays." Percy deadpanned. Everyone else snickered. Zeus glared.

 **("But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!")**

Percy nodded. Back then, he didn't know Zeus, had never seen him before. Now that he had, he could honestly say that he underestimated just how crazy.

Zeus glared at him for daring to call him crazy, but he couldn't do anything, not with both Hestia and Poseidon in the room watching. (Not to mention Sally, but he wasn't about to admit the mortal woman scared him.)

 **(Chiron and Grover... like a coffin lid.)**

"That was terrifying." Will said quietly.

"The barrier kept bad weather out, but now... we didn't know if we were being punished for something or if the barrier fell." Clarisse said in agreement.

The Romans looked at their Greek counterparts thoughtfully. They may get more attention from the Olympians, but at the same time... they also seemed to get more trouble.

 **("Er, Percy...?"... the Lord of the Sky.")**

"Thank you, satyr." Zeus said stiffly. He never forgave Grover for Thalia dying.

 **("Perhaps** _ **paranoid,**_ **" Chiron suggested.)**

Zeus glared at Chiron, who just looked back innocently.

 **("Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before.)**

Poseidon frowned and tried to remember when he ever tried to unseat Zeus. The only thing he could think of was... Oh come on! That whole thing was Hera's idea! He banged his head with the book a few times, grumbling under his breath before he started to read again.

Zeus was still nodding in agreement with what Chiron was saying in the book.

 **(I believe that was... question thirty-eight.)**

A few (Athena and Artemis) nodded in agreement. They didn't expect anything either.

 **(How could anyone accuse... without getting busted.)**

Everyone looked at Percy in surprise. Considering how many pranks he got away with over the years with nobody being any the wiser, this was surprising. They didn't say anything though, they didn't want to remind Percy of some of his... more elaborate pranks and potentially ask for a repeat.

 **(Chiron was waiting... ruler, right?"**

 **"Correct,")**

Athena and Artemis's jaws dropped. They really weren't expecting him to remember.

 **(Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since.)**

"Oh brother," Poseidon muttered before he continued louder, "And I don't know how often we have to tell you, that whole thing was Hera's idea." He said tiredly.

 **(Of course, Poseidon... at the accusation.)**

"Of course I would/I hate being accused of something I didn't do." Poseidon and Percy muttered.

 **(The two have been... after World War II,)**

 _Percy_ furrowed his eyebrows and said slowly, "Which Zeus had already done... twice..." He said, twisting around to look at Triton, who grinned at him.

"Exactly, but... Uncle Zeus doesn't usually see things that way." He said, ignoring said uncle's glare.

 _Percy_ frowned, but only muttered, "Hypocrite." And left it at that.

 **(that he's fathered a... bolt stolen, did he?")**

"Of course not!" Poseidon said, offended that his own son would even ask such a thing. Although... he was also proud, this was the first time that book Percy called him dad.

 **(Chiron sighed. "Most... Poseidon's style.)**

"And I think we all know that Zeus rarely thinks things through." Hades said dryly. Transferring the glare from _Percy_ and Triton to himself.

 **(But the Sea God is... the summer solstice.)**

"Kind of hard to do when I don't have it." Poseidon growled, not at all happy.

 **(That's June twenty-first, ten days from now.)**

"Ten days? That's plenty of time." Leo said. They had much less time when they had to save Hera.

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover all looked at each other. "Ten days is really not. Especially not on a quest like this." Grover said.

"Never. NEVER assume you have plenty of time." Annabeth said in a serious voice. Percy nodded in agreement with them.

 **(Poseidon wants an apology... two brothers see sense.)**

The three women sighed and thanked Chiron for their faith in them, but apologized for not being able to stop them this time.

There were just some cases where the boys were too far gone for them to stop the fighting and force

them to get along.

 **(But your arrival has... would like, Percy?")**

Even Ares looked apprehensive about what a war of that scale would look like. Sure, he liked war and all, after all, he was the god of war. But something of that magnitude...

 **("Bad?" I guessed.)**

"That's one way of putting it..." Ares said slowly.

"Bit of an understatement though." Athena muttered. Percy shrugged.

 **("Imagine the world in... a water-balloon fight.")**

"Whoa." Leo said, his face was sheet white just thinking about it.

"Sounds pretty accurate." Hera muttered, glaring at her brothers.

 **("Bad," I repeated.)**

"How on earth do you keep defining stuff like that in such simple terms?!" _Annabeth_ was very confused and just a little angry about it. It wasn't a laughing matter, yet she felt like he was making it seem like less of a big deal than it really was.

Percy shrugged, "Guess that's just how my brain works." He said.

 **"And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath.")**

Percy sighed. "Story of my life, right there." He muttered. The other four grimaced and nodded in agreement. They were pretty much the same way.

 **(It started to rain... silence at the sky.)**

"It was a shock. It had never rained before unless we wanted it too, and usually Chiron would tell us ahead of time so we could plan accordingly." Luke said. Even he had not been expecting the rain. And he had this huge plan to get Percy to leave camp and go on a quest already.

 **(** _ **I**_ **had brought this... camp because of me.)**

"Hey, Luke." Percy said quietly. "Was this...?"

Luke frowned, but shook his head slowly. "Not that I know of... but he also didn't share every single plan with me." He said apologetically. Percy frowned, but nodded.

 **(I was furious.)**

Most people flinched. That was never a good thing. When he was annoyed, it was a good time to duck and cover. The only ones who could really deal with him them were Annabeth, Grover, and for some odd reason, Clarisse. Not Thalia, she usually only made the problem worse.

When he was angry, that was when they found an enemy and pointed him at it, letting him go. When he was furious... well... they learned to stay out of his way. And on occasion they pitied the poor soul that earned his fury.

 **("So I have to find the stupid bolt," I said. "And return it to Zeus.")**

"It's not stupid! And yes! You do need to return it!" Zeus raged. How dare this sea-spawn upstart call his lightning bolt stupid!

Percy raised an eyebrow, but it was _Percy_ that answered him. "Kind of hard to return something that you don't have."

 **("What better peace... return Zeus's property?")**

"Never going to work." Hera, Poseidon, and Hestia all muttered. Who knows what Zeus would try to accuse Poseidon for instead.

Chiron sighed. He could hope, though, couldn't he?

 **("If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?")**

"It's not a thing." Both Ares and Zeus muttered. Ares was slightly insulted because it was a very powerful weapon, and he loved powerful weapons.

 **("I believe I know."... counsel of the Oracle.")**

All the futures grimaced. They had almost forgotten, but this was the time when they still had the mummy. They really weren't looking forward to getting a description of that, especially given how detailed Percy was so far with his descriptions.

Apollo looked down at mention of his Oracle, he never did find out what happened to her. Hades was making a point of not looking towards Apollo or Rachel, while Nico and Percy weren't looking at Hades.

 **("Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?")**

"Very good question." Zeus said, now he was looking at Chiron suspiciously, Chiron just rolled his eyes.

 **("Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge.")**

"Good reason." _Percy_ muttered.

 **(I swallowed. "Good reason.")**

 _Percy_ blinked, while his older self smirked at him and a few others snickered.

 **("You agree then?"... nodded encouragingly.)**

Grover shuddered. He hated this quest, he should have never gone on this quest. "Big mistake." He muttered.

 **(Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill.)**

"Actually, Zeus wanted to kill me too. After everything that happened with Thalia, yeah..." Grover said with a shrug. _Grover_ nodded, but he was also staring at his older self in awe. How was he not worried about that?

 **("All right," I said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin.")**

"On second thought, I'll take the dolphin." Percy said, raising his hand like he would in class.

Dionysus smirked at him.

 **("Then it's time you... sane, we will talk more.")**

"Wait..." Reyna said. " _Assuming you are still sane?_ "She repeated incredulously. All the Greeks shrugged.

"Personally, I prefer the old Oracle to Octavian any day." Percy grumbled.

"Oh yeah, didn't he destroy your panda?" Hazel asked.

Percy eyes narrowed and he muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, 'worked hard to steal that thing with Gorgons on my tail.' Sally narrowed her eyes, but decided that she would ask later. In private.

 **(Four flights up, the stairs... my breath and climbed.)**

"I held my breath, too." Clarisse and Luke both assured Percy. Beckendorf nodded in agreement. The smell was a little strong when the door was first opened.

 **(The attic was filled... shields pitted with rust;)**

"Wow, you don't go up there much, do you?" Gwen asked quietly. The Greeks noticed that the Romans were pretty quiet unless they were directly spoken to or had something they were wondering about in regards to their camp. Reyna in particular seemed to be comparing.

 **(old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE,)**

"Hate that place." Reyna muttered.

Percy winced. Now that he actually remembered that incident... "Sorry, about that, by the way." He told the Praetor. She shrugged.

 **(and LAND OF THE AMAZONS.)**

"My sister is the Amazon Queen." Reyna piped up again. When people looked at her incredulously, she shrugged and said it was a long story.

"That's why you told me to seek her out!" Percy realized. "So she could send aid." Reyna winced, but nodded.

"Aid?" Jason asked, worried. "What's happening in my camp?"

"Don't worry, we'll take care of it. You just focus on the Argo." Percy reassured him. He didn't look reassured though.

 **(One long table was... WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.)**

"Why would you keep some of that stuff?" Hazel asked, a little disturbed.

Percy shrugged. "They used to be battle trophies, but the demigod they belonged to died at some point, and they were moved up there. Either that, or they belong to one of us," He gestured to all the demigods he fought with, "and we just didn't want to keep it in our cabins. I keep my horn in my cabin, but I've stored a few other battle trophies up there over the years." He said.

"So have I." Annabeth said.

 **(By the window, sitting... dead a long, long time.)**

"What is that?" Reyna asked, looking green. Most of the people who never saw the mummy Oracle were currently looking a little green.

"That, is/was the Oracle." Chiron and Percy both answered her. Apollo looked a little down again at the thought of what his Oracle currently was, but then he looked at Rachel and reminded himself that the problem fixed itself, whatever was wrong, it righted itself and he got a new Oracle. Hades winced again at the description, and he caught Percy and Nico eyeing him. Great, so the two of them knew. Perfect. Leo was apologizing to every remark he ever made to Rachel about her being the Oracle.

"You preferred a dead mummy to Octavian?" Hazel asked him with a weird look on her face. Percy shrugged. The Romans looked at each other and figured it must be a Greek thing or something.

 **(Looking at her sent... and opened her mouth.)**

"You got to be kidding me!" Leo yelped, he was officially freaked out now, and very grateful that they had Rachel.

 **(A green mist poured... get to the trap-door,)**

A few people nodded, yup, they all made that move too. A few shuddered at hearing about it.

 **(but it slammed shut..** _ **. Approach, seeker, and ask.)**_

Some shuddered. That was creepy. Sally in particular looked disturbed, while Paul looked like he might run out of the room, especially if the way he was eyeing Apollo indicated.

 **(I wanted to say,** _ **No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom.)**_

People chuckled, trust Percy to come up with a suggestion like that.

 **(But I forced myself... Dodds or the Minotaur.)**

"Of course it's not! Its just my Oracle." Apollo said, slightly offended that his Oracle could be considered evil.

"I don't know..." Percy said, and Apollo looked at him sharply. "You've clearly never seen Rachel in a bad mood." He finished with a smirk.

Rachel glared at him and threw a hairbrush at him, which he barely dodged. "Where did you get a hairbrush?" Jason asked slowly.

"And why do you have a hairbrush?" Piper asked.

Rachel shrugged. "You never know when I need to throw something at a titan as a distraction." She answered cryptically. Nico, Annabeth, and Percy found this extremely funny for some odd reason. Everybody else just decided not to ask. They didn't want to know.

 **(It felt more like... in killing me, either.)**

"One of the few." Percy deadpanned. Hazel and Frank winced again, again thinking about the trip to Alaska they were about to go on with him. Sally and Paul in particular looked uneasy.

 **(I got up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?")**

"Because that's not dramatic at all." Grover muttered to his friend, who just grinned at him.

"And he is just like his father in that regard." Amphitrite muttered. Poseidon grinned at his wife, much like Percy was now grinning at Grover.

 **(The mist swirled more... Gabe and his buddies.)**

Growls were heard throughout the room at the thought of the Oracle using _them_ in her vision. Gabe and a few of the demigods just happened to be transported to the other room not a few moments later.

Chiron frowned in disapproval, but still made absolutely no move to stop or scold them. He actually wished he could be doing the same, but that wouldn't be setting a very good example for all of his students. Present or future.

 **(My fists clenched, though...** _**god who has turned.)**_

"The west?" Athena murmured. "But only one of us lives in the west."

Hades narrowed his eyes. He didn't like where this was going. "Last I checked, my address doesn't make me guilty of anything. It said he would face a god in the west. Not that the god lived in the west. For all we know, it could mean Apollo towards sunset." He said with narrow eyes, ignoring the protest from Apollo.

"Prophesies often have double meanings. They are very rarely straightforward," Apollo said after a few seconds of pouting. He sounded strained, and he avoided looking at Zeus. Something that only Poseidon, both Percy's, Will, and Hermes picked up on. Which was understandable, his prophecies got him in a lot of trouble with Zeus for some odd reason.

 **(His buddy on the right)**

"Wait, do you even know the names of his poker buddies?" Annabeth asked suddenly. It was so random everybody turned and blinked at the girl for a few moments before both Percy's finally shook their heads no. They only really knew Eddie because he also happened to be the building super.

 **(looked up and...** _**it safely returned.)**_

"Yes!" Zeus yelled, happy and relieved that it would be found. Everybody else rolled their eyes.

 **(The guy on the...** _**who calls you a friend.)**_

Everyone went silent. Luke practically froze, he did not see that one coming. Was this why Percy took his betrayal so hard? Because he considered them to be friends? As for everyone else, particularly Annabeth, they finally understood some of why Percy was so insistent on Luke being evil and beyond saving after he came back from the Sea of Monsters. For a guy with a fatal flaw like loyalty to be betrayed like that...

 **(Finally, Eddie, our...** _**matters most, in the end.)**_

Sally sighed and looked at her son sadly.

Zeus frowned, "It said the bolt was found and returned, what else matters?" He asked. A few glared at him, but nobody bothered reminding him that Sally was also stolen.

Percy frowned and cocked his head to the side, he hadn't thought about this prophecy in years. "You know... now that I think about it... I think only the first two lines had anything to do with the bolt. The second line, that could refer to all three of the stolen 'items', the third one is obvious... but I think the last one might actually be referring to the friend who betrayed me. And I don't think that line was limited to just this quest, either." He said, being careful not to mention Luke by name.

Annabeth frowned too, "You mean, the soul of the traitor is the thing you would fail to save in the end? Because in the end, he died after giving his body, mind, and soul to Kronos, and then fighting back at the very end. And the Fates did carry his body away themselves." Nobody noticed Hermes lean over and put his head in his hands or _Luke_ frowning and looking at his older self in question.

Percy nodded. "Think about it, if I'd managed to turn him away from that path before Kronos fully rose, then the whole war would have never happened. Either that or we would have had a valuable information resource on our side. So many lives wouldn't have been lost." He said. "But I also don't think its just talking about the original traitor. Remember? The spy?" He said. All the other demigods nodded in agreement now, this did make perfect sense now that they thought about it.

Apollo looked thoughtful too, but without knowing what exactly they were talking about, he couldn't confirm or deny what they were talking about. Of course, he had a pretty good idea from his visions of the future what was going to happen, but the future was becoming more and more blurry the more they read of this book.

 **(The figures began... will I fail to save?")**

"Sorry, but once she's said her bit, that's all your going to get from her." Apollo said quietly. Percy shrugged. He was still thinking about the revelation he had earlier.

 **(The tail of the mist... room full of mementos.)**

"Creepy mementos." Hazel muttered, and everyone else nodded in agreement, although the Greeks shrugged. So what if some of that stuff was a little creepy, they worked hard to defeat those monsters, those were their battle trophies.

Chiron winced though, "We should probably go up there and clean some of that stuff out. Some of it has been in the camps possession for centuries. I can contact some of those that accepted immortality and see what they want done with their trophies, but some of the other stuff... I will have to think about it. I did not know that it was so cluttered up there though." He said. He looked at his current students. "Which means that if you have stuff up there and you want to keep it, you better go up to the attic when we get back and retrieve it." They nodded. The Romans gave them strange looks.

Sure, they understood the concept of taking battle trophies, but... body parts?

 **(I got the feeling that... pressed. "This is important.")**

"Yes, it is, but also vague and its not a good idea to try and interpret in your own way." Apollo said, "especially as I have a feeling you are about to let your current knowledge and prejudice cloud you interpretation." Chiron raised an eyebrow, what was wrong with him trying to help out one of his students? Especially with that students first prophecy.

 **(My ears were still... I didn't have that many.)**

Sally winced and hung her head slightly. She had always wished her boy could have more friends growing up, but with how often he switched schools, and then their money situation... nobody really wanted anything to do with him. Until Grover, but even then Grover was there on orders, especially in the beginning.

Luke grimaced, yet another reason why Percy took his betrayal so harshly. Even if he did try to be nice and kill the boy so he wouldn't suffer...

 **(And the last line-...** _**the way, you'll fail.)**_

"Double meanings." Apollo practically sing-songed, and then chuckled when Percy made a face at him.

 **(How could I confess... events come to pass.")**

"Ain't that the truth." Several demigods muttered. Those closest to the MS's corner thought they could hear the seven muttering their own agreement.

 **(I got the feeling he... make me feel better.)**

Chiron chuckled. "When you have been teaching children and teenagers for as long as I have, young Percy, you do tend to tell when they aren't telling you something." Percy smiled slightly at him.

"You also hesitated too long." Hermes muttered, which all his children nodded in agreement with.

 **("Okay," I said,... god in the west?")**

"Could be any of us. It's not like we're restricted from going west. It would actually make Apollo's job difficult if he can't go west." Artemis said. "Beside's that, all the best hunting is in the west."

"New Rome is also in the west, and we have Terminus guarding the city." Reyna said with a shrug. Percy shrugged and muttered something about OCD border gods, which made the Romans all chuckle.

"Yeah, he does take some, uh, getting used to." Jason said. "But Julia is a sweetheart." All the Romans nodded in agreement again.

"Julia?" Piper asked, some of her old insecurities of Jason having a girl back in New Rome that he didn't remember coming back to her.

"Yeah, she's, what, six? Seven? Her parents live in the city, and she helps Terminus out. She's a cutie." Hazel said with a small smile. Piper sat back, somewhat relieved. She glanced at her mother, who was giving her a knowing look, and looked away again with a scowl.

 **("Ah, think, Percy,"... who stands to gain?")**

"Not me." Hades protested immediately, he really hated being the one blamed. Well, him, Poseidon and Apollo were the ones blamed, but still.

 **("Somebody else who... was divided eons ago,)**

"That rumor started from Zeus's paranoia. I'm quite happy where I am, thank you very much." Hades said, slightly offended. "Of course, if I was allowed to actually come visit my family more often..." He trailed off with a shrug.

Persephone put a hand on his arm and rubbed, trying to give him some sort of comfort. She knew how much he disliked being banished from Olympus. He wasn't even sure why he was banished.

 **(whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions.)**

"Whoa, hey. The last thing I need right now is millions more flocking to the Underworld. Do you have any idea how many souls I am already looking after? The commute time? I'm currently in the process of trying to figure out how to expand the Fields of Asphodel because I'm running out of room to put them all. And the expenses that keep piling up!" Hades protested. "You have no idea the chaos the Underworld gets thrown into every time the mortals have a genocide or major war. The Holocaust was a nightmare! And not just for the Jews!"

Nico and Hazel nodded in agreement. Nico often helped his father with the paperwork, and Hazel remembered the crowds from her time as one of those spirits in the Fields of Asphodel.

 **(Someone who hates... the ground. "Hades.")**

Hades groaned and banged his head back while Nico and Hazel glared at Percy for automatically thinking of their father. Percy just sighed, he really should have known better than to automatically assume like that. He used to get after Lily for doing the same thing.

Everybody ignored Zeus muttering to himself, glaring between Hades and Poseidon suspiciously, and clutching his master bolt protectively.

 **(Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility.")**

"No, I'm just the only possibility that you want to consider." Hades muttered.

 **(A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?")**

Grover sighed, and Annabeth reached over to pat him sympathetically on the back. They were both kind of thrown in to the ride on this one with barely a clue of where they were going. All they knew was to head west. Honestly, they should have asked Chiron where the entrance to the Underworld was before they left. Among other things.

Everyone else was just chuckling at the picture of Aluminum falling out of Grover's mouth like that.

 **("A Fury came after... only one lord: Hades.")**

Hades frowned suddenly. "Wait a minute, earlier you made reference to three stolen 'objects'. One is obviously the bolt, and then your mother... what is the third object? And why am _I_ sending Furies after you, if neither of us has the bolt?" He asked Percy suspiciously, his hands were curling around his Helm of Darkness at his side.

When he saw his nephew's eyes flick over the Helm, and then flick back to his face, he groaned and started plotting the painful afterlife of whoever had the gall to steal his Helm. He didn't say anything though, he knew that very few would have caught onto what he was talking about and then the boys glance at his symbol of power. And those few were Hermes, Apollo, and Poseidon. Plus maybe a few others. They wouldn't say anything.

 **("Yes, but-but Hades hates** _ **all**_ **heroes,")**

Hades held up his hands and moved it side to side in a 'sort-of' motion. "It depends on how much

that particular demigod has ticked me off and lived to tell the tale. Honestly, it's there fault if they decide to be annoying." He said with a shrug.

"That explains a lot." Percy muttered.

 **(Grover protested. "Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon...")**

"Now that, I could care less about. Well, I care in the sense that he's my nephew, but beyond that..." Hades shrugged again. "I'm not mad at either Poseidon or the boy. At the moment, anyway."

Percy shrugged too, his uncle was actually pretty cool, when he was in a good mood. Zeus on the other hand... enough said.

 **("A hellhound got into... can take on the quest.")**

"Right scenario, wrong culprit." Percy, Annabeth, and Grover all said at once.

"Besides that, the hellhound was so they WOULD send you on a quest." Luke muttered under his breath.

 **("Great," I muttered. "That's two major gods who want to kill me.")**

"Oh, the good old days. I only had two major enemies." Percy said dreamily. Several of the other demigods who had ever fought alongside Percy or happened to be there when he was attacked nodded in agreement. He did have a lot of enemies.

Once again, Sally and Poseidon looked worried for their sons safety and sanity.

 **("But a quest to..." Grover... nice this time of year.")**

Thalia, Grover, Percy, and Annabeth all shivered. "I hate Maine." They all muttered. Percy's protective grip around Annabeth got even tighter. Not that she was complaining.

 **("Hades sent a minion... Zeus would blame Poseidon.)**

"Again, right scenario, wrong culprit. Although this time, the one who 'hid' it isn't the same person who stole it." Percy said with a shrug. "Well, sort of." He avoided glancing at Luke, he didn't want to give him away too soon, although he had a feeling that Hermes and maybe Apollo already knew.

 **(I don't pretend to... and reveal the truth.")**

"Oh, the truth was revealed alright." Annabeth muttered.

"And it was not what we were expecting," Percy said, shaking his head.

"Not at all." Grover finished with a scoff. They were really lucky Zeus decided to be nice and not knock the plane they were sitting in out of the sky. Although he doubted it had anything to do with Zeus being nice and everything to do with the fact that they were carrying his master bolt. But, who was keeping track of that stuff.

 **(A strange fire burned... and the hellhound.)**

"Ok, the hellhound was definitely not me. That one, I can say with certainly. The Minotaur, who knows." Hades said with another shrug. He was doing that a lot lately. "And please, stay out of my Underworld." He practically begged/demanded of everyone in the room.

 **(It was his fault my mother had disappeared in a flash of light.)**

"Uh-oh." Hades muttered, and started muttering 'please don't do it, please don't do it...' under his breath. Persephone heard him and grimaced. Because, honestly, they all knew by now that the boy was going to do it.

 **(Now he was trying... to take him on.)**

Hades groaned and banged his head against the back of his throne, and just kept it there, muttering about which duties he was going to have to assign the Furies so he could oversee the new security measures, and get the fresh stack of paperwork done.

 **(Besides, if my mother was in the Underworld...)**

Hades paused in his planning long enough to mutter that the boy should be lucky she was merely being held hostage and not actually dead.

 **(Whoa, boy, said a small part of my brain that was still sane.)**

"That exists?" All his friends asked in shock. With Clarisse, Annabeth, his dear cousins, and Grover being the loudest. Percy rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at them all.

 **(You're a kid... cards like potato chips.)**

Dionysus groaned. "Chiron! How many times do I have to ask you keep the pinochle cards out of reach when the satyr's get worked up?! Do you have any idea how many packs of cards I have to replace every month?!"

"You could always, oh, I don't know, not replace them." Several demigods muttered. They were sick and tired of the game.

 **(The poor guy needed... fail? This was suicide.)**

"Most quests are. But demigods are remarkably brilliant at finding ways out of the bad situations." Artemis murmured. How many quests had she watched from her chariot at night? How many demigods had she seen in a desperate situation that she was positive was about to kill them, only

for them to defeat their opponent, then get up and walk away like nothing happened?

 **("Look, if we know... are not the same,")**

"Exactly." Apollo, Poseidon, and Hermes all muttered.

 **(Chiron said. "Besides,... operate through humans?")**

Zeus scowled. He hated that they had to rely on demigods so much. In his mind, it pointed out a glaring weakness and security risk to his rule. If he could get away with destroying all of them (except for his own children, of course) he would. But, if he did that, they would probably all fade away, that was, if the others didn't kill him first.

"You know... I don't really get that. We can't be held accountable for a hero's actions, and yet... most if not all of the time, we are the ones who send hero's to do this or that in the first place. Doesn't that make us accountable, since they were only doing what we asked of them?" Hermes asked, looking around. Everyone else blinked at him, while Athena gaped and Zeus was too busy thinking about what he would like to do with everybody else's brats sometimes if he didn't think it would make their parents start a revolt.

 **("You're saying I'm being used.")**

"Uh-oh." Annabeth and Sally muttered. They didn't like where this conversation just went.

 **("I'm saying it's no... situation. He needs you.")**

Poseidon, Amphitrite, and Triton all groaned, and Sally informed Chiron that he worded that in the worse possible way. "That will only make him think that Poseidon only claimed him now because he could be useful, and not that Poseidon actually cares." Everyone turned to look at Percy, but he refused to meet anyone's gaze, same with _Percy_ from his spot encased in Triton's protective grip.

 **(My dad needs me... Now suddenly he needed me.)**

"I didn't ignore you. I just couldn't let you know I was around." Poseidon said quietly. Percy smiled at his father reassuringly.

"I know, dad."

 **(I looked at Chiron. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?")**

"Yes." All the Greeks muttered.

Chiron and Dionysus both shrugged. It wasn't there fault they weren't allowed to say anything until the child was claimed.

 **("I had my suspicions... the Lord of the Dead.")**

Hades sighed and started writing down his tentative plans for delegating duties and tightening security down. He was going to need the list.

"When you put it that way... how did you survive this quest?" Clarisse asked Percy with a raised eyebrow. Percy just shrugged and laid his head on Annabeth's shoulder.

 **("Check." Chiron said... weapon in the universe.")**

"Better believe its the most powerful." Zeus muttered.

 **("Check." "And get... solstice, in ten days.")**

"Plenty of time." Leo said again. He clearly either forgot or just hadn't listened when Annabeth said earlier that you never assume you have plenty of time on a quest.

 **("That's about right."... time of year?" he asked weakly.)**

"I'll pass on Maine." Grover said. "And Florida. And California. Hmmm... I've never been to

Hawaii..." He said.

"Sure, we could use a vacation when all this is over." Percy said. He was all for going to Hawaii with Grover and the others.

 **("You don't have to... underground places... well...")**

 _Grover_ shuddered and nodded. He hated the underground.

Grover sighed and started banging his head on the back of the couch. Percy grimaced beside him. "Stupid, of all the places to hide, that was the perfect one..." Grover muttered. "Satyr's are so stupid."

Annabeth reached around Percy to pat him on the shoulder. She knew that none of the satyr's ever thought to search underground because none of them really agreed with the underground, it made them extremely nervous. For Grover to have found Pan underground... to him it made the entire satyr race seem like a bunch of idiots. Instead of continuing to search above ground, they should have been searching in the underground, where their lord would have known they would never go and would have therefore thought it was the perfect place to hide.

 **(He took a deep breath,... I won't let you down.")**

 _Grover's_ eyes widened. He was really going to willingly go underground? Sure, he liked Percy and wanted to keep him safe, but...

Chiron smiled, he knew there was more to that satyr than Grover ever let himself believe. Maybe this would prove everything he'd ever been telling _Grover_.

 **(I felt so relieved... than a few months.)**

Sally let out an explosive sigh and leaned forward with her head in her hands while Paul wrapped an arm around her.

"Mom?" Both Percy's asked, worried. The two of them started to get up to see what was wrong, but Paul waved them off.

"She's fine, just mad about... something. Don't worry, boys." He said reassuringly. He had a feeling he knew what she was mad about, but he also didn't want his step-son to think it was his fault. The boys sank back down in their seats, but kept shooting their mother worried looks.

Hera smiled at seeing yet another example of the relationship that mothers and their children should have. Regardless of the boys father, this was fast becoming her favorite family just for how Sally and Percy treated each other.

 **(I wasn't sure what good a satyr could do)**

"Hey!" Both Grover's protested. Grover took it one step further and hit his friend over the back of his head, causing Percy to lean away from him and raise his hands, either in surrender or defense. Who knew.

"I'm not _that_ hopeless," _Grover_ muttered with a scowl.

 **(against the forces of the dead,)**

"Oh, ok. Yeah, not much." Both Grover's conceded with a grimace.

"Well, I can do more now than I could back then, but..." Grover continued with a shrug. Percy smirked at him.

Hades just smirked at the satyr's.

 **(but I felt better knowing he'd be with me.)**

"Aw, thanks buddy."

"No problem, man."

 **("All the way, G-man."... it's in America.")**

 _Percy_ sighed explosively, "WHERE in America?" He asked, exasperated. Honestly, what was with people and not answering his older self questions properly?

Chiron gave him a funny look.

 **("Where?")**

Faces met palms all over the room as _Percy_ crossed his arms across his chest and nodded imperiously.

 **(Chiron looked surprised... is in Los Angeles.")**

"Chiron, he has only known about the Greek world for a week, and you never showed him the video! How on earth would that be obvious?" Sally asked, exasperated with the centaur's seeming memory lapses where her son was concerned.

Chiron turned a bright red as he realized. "My apologies, I fear I might have become a little too, ah, accustomed to what I would consider facts of life to consider sometimes that others won't always have the same information." He said softly, mentally reviewing his behavior with new campers and seeing if he did the same thing to them, too.

 **("Oh," I said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane-")**

"No!" Poseidon, his wife and Triton, Sally, and most of the demigods yelled.

Percy got a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face as he said quickly, "I know! I know, flying is bad, I am aware of that now."

Poseidon breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. My brother does not show the same restraint that I show my nieces and nephews when it comes to them being in his territory." Everyone who had been confused about why Percy shouldn't fly, now understood.

 **("No!" Grover shrieked... died in a plane crash.)**

"While those are both true and valid reasons, they were not my only reasons." Sally said with a slight glare towards Zeus. She determinedly avoided looking in Gabe's direction.

 **("Percy, think," Chiron... come down again alive.")**

"Just to make this clear now, all of you are welcome to spend time in the sea as often as you like." Poseidon said, looking at the sons and daughters of Zeus and Hades. The fact that half of said pair was Roman the other was Greek made it slightly ironic to his mind, especially considering they were opposites. The son and daughter of Hades and Zeus, versus the daughter and son of Pluto and Jupiter. The Greek pair were also the oldest, which also represented the Greek/Roman mess pretty well. Their Greek halves were older than their Roman halves, not to mention slightly... wilder. Certainly less disciplined.

The four demigods, especially the two Romans, looked startled before they smiled at him. He could understand Hazel and Jason's reaction though, the Romans always feared the sea. He wasn't quite sure why, it wasn't like he couldn't cause just as much, if not more, damage on dry land. He wasn't called the Earthshaker for nothing. But then again... they did live in California... but those quakes were mostly Hades fault. He was quicker to lash out than Poseidon.

 **(Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.)**

Several people rolled their eyes at the dramatics. He was such a drama-queen!

 **("Okay," I said, determined... if you will accept her help.")**

"Gee, I wonder who that would have been." Thalia drawled sarcastically, looking towards her 'younger sister'.

Annabeth smirked at her while Percy, for some reason, groaned and hit his head on the back of the couch. Athena was already resolving to lecture her daughter's on the dangers of sea-spawn and why they were to not hang out with them. She didn't like how close her daughter and this one were, and she would not have her younger _Annabeth_ falling for his charms too. The fact that her daughter was apparently going on a quest with this sea-spawn only made her resolve to speak with the girls sooner.

 **("Gee," I said, feigning... for a quest like this?")**

Thalia blinked once, and then bashed her head against the back of her own couch (that was happening a lot, wasn't it?) before muttering about how she thought like Kelp-for-Brains.

She ignored Percy and Annabeth smirking at her or the soft snickers that came from Nico (everyone else decided long ago to stay out of any potential fight the three cousins might have, their fights were legendary in camp, like the one between Percy and Thalia during Capture the Flag after the Maine fiasco), who once again held a plate with some blue birthday cake on it. Seriously, where was that coming from?

 **(The air shimmered behind... into her back pocket.)**

Annabeth became wistful again, thinking of her beloved Yankees cap. She wished she knew why it no longer worked.

 **("I've been waiting a... from messing up.")**

Athena nodded in agreement to that. A child of hers was the best when it came to keeping others from messing up. Although, Annabeth was going to have her hands full keeping the sea-spawn in line.

 **("If you do say so yourself," I said. "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?")**

"Always." Both Annabeth's crowed. Percy smirked at his girlfriend proudly.

 **(Her cheeks colored... all the help I could get.)**

"Very true. Boys do need all the help they can get." Artemis said quietly with a raised eyebrow. She was, against her better judgement perhaps, starting to like this boy. He didn't have the arrogance or views on women that she found most males to possess.

 **"A trio," I said. "That'll work.")**

"A trio is how it always works because that is usually what is safest." Apollo murmured.

Athena nodded, although she gave Apollo a dark look. "Three is a powerful number." She agreed simply.

 **("Excellent," Chiron said... supposed to have violent weather.)**

"That was terrifying." Will whispered. The others who were there, including Luke, grimaced in agreement. They had no clue what was going on.

The other gods were angry that Zeus was punishing their children like that when nobody had done anything wrong. No matter what he seemed to think Percy had done.

 **("No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing.")**

Poseidon closed the book with a soft snap. "That's the chapter. Who wants to read next?" He asked. He was torn, on the one hand, he wanted to hear about his sons quest, on the other hand, he really didn't want to read about his son venturing down to the Underworld. Oh, he really hoped Percy could keep his 'act first, think later' tendencies under control when speaking with Hades. Hades was the opposite of him, it didn't take much for him to get annoyed, and he could hold grudges for centuries.

After a moment, he was surprised when Zoe raised her hand and said she would read. She would never admit this to anyone, but she was becoming intrigued by this male hero.

Once she opened the book and found the right chapter, she raised an eyebrow and read... **Chapter ten: I ruin a perfectly good bus"**

She looked at Percy, who shifted while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly while avoiding Annabeth's slight glare. After a moment, he shot a glare at Hades before settling back down and asking that she read, her question wasn't going to be answered by staring at him.


	14. Chapter 14

_Once she opened the book and found the right chapter, she raised an eyebrow and read..._ _ **Chapter ten: I ruin a perfectly good bus"**_

 _She looked at Percy, who shifted while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly while avoiding Annabeth's slight glare. After a moment, he shot a glare at Hades before settling back down and asking that she read, her question wasn't going to be answered by staring at him._

Zoe raised an eyebrow, but read anyway.

 **(It didn't take me... had found for me.)**

"That was all he owned, and then we lost it not even five hours into the quest." Grover said, ignoring Percy's muttering about stupid, evil math teachers and lightning happy uncles.

Everyone else looked at Percy like he was finally losing it.

 **(The camp store... golden drachmas.)**

"It wasn't a loan, we don't expect to be paid back. Just the fact that you came back at all would be good enough." Chiron said absently.

Sally's eyes widened. Does he have to say it like that?! Seriously!

 **(These coins were... than pure gold.)**

"Of course we don't. Why would we?" Athena sniffed.

 **(Chiron said the coins... whatever that meant.)**

Sally sighed. She really hoped Annabeth at least answered his questions. If not, then it was a good thing her son was good at figuring things out on the fly and making up workable plans as he went.

 **(He gave Annabeth and... lethal to us mortals.)**

"Which is part of why it's so hard for the Romans to get. Our healers have such a limited amount, its used in only the strictest of emergencies where there is still a chance to save them, but not by normal healing means." Reyna said with a frown. "Meanwhile, you Greeks are handing it out like candy."

"Maybe because we are closer to Olympus?" Percy suggested. "Or, the Greek counterparts are less disciplined and closer to their kids..." He said hesitantly.

"Let's go with the second part." Poseidon said with a shrug. He personally didn't care. In the past few centuries, he'd only had one child as Neptune. The Romans were just that terrified of him, for reasons he still couldn't quite figure out. No, the only presence he'd really had in New Rome in a long time was Frank's family. And he still found that lineage to be both amusing and slightly confusing. The boy was a Greek-Chinese-Canadian Roman. To top it off, they were also blessed by him and often had Hestia's attention over the centuries. If that wasn't a combination...

 **(Too much of it... us up, literally.)**

Sally shuddered. She did not want to hear about her baby burning up.

"One of the reasons why only the healers are allowed to handle either substance. I can't believe you just hand it around like candy." Reyna said in disbelief.

"Our campers are heavily warned of the risks. They are also highly trained so that hopefully such an emergency doesn't arise." Chiron said a little sternly. He didn't like her suggesting that he was lax in training his campers. He knew that he wasn't nearly as strict as Lupa was... but he also knew that some of his average skilled campers could take out one of Lupa's best any day of the week, purely because the Greek fighting style was so chaotic and unpredictable compared to the Romans.

Reyna shrunk back in her seat, she had a bad feeling she just insulted the old teacher.

 **(Annabeth was bringing... when she got bored,)**

A bunch of the demigods found that to be highly amusing, to the confusion of the younger ones, Sally, and Paul.

"Be quiet, all of you! I was young, and naive. I know the truth of the matter now. Besides, the book was left behind on the bus when we had to abandon it, and I don't want to lose another perfectly good book like that again." Annabeth said, pulling her knife out threateningly when they wouldn't stop laughing at her.

They stopped pretty quick. But the younger ones and the two mortals were still confused.

 **(and a long bronze... a metal detector.)**

Sally snorted. "Like that ever stopped you before..." She muttered. And ignored the grins sent her way by the boys.

Poseidon frowned towards Hermes. "Are you sure that Sally isn't one of yours? At least somewhere down the line... grandparents? Something? Because I know he didn't get ALL this from me."

"I don't know... I'll look into it tonight." Hermes said, looking at Sally thoughtfully. Mentally, he told the others that he had already asked Athena to look into it, and that she could also be descended from another pantheon.

"At any rate, Celestial Bronze doesn't show up on mortal equipment. At least, not as a metal. It might show up as an energy source, or on infrared, but not on metal detectors. Another part of the Mist." Annabeth explained.

 **(Grover wore his fake... apples to snack on.)**

Grover groaned again about perfectly good tin cans being wasted and glared at Zeus for a bit.

 **(In his pocket was... "So Yesterday,")**

"Thank goodness he learned more songs over the years." Most of the Greeks muttered. Grover turned red, but didn't say anything. A few people were confused on who Hilary Duff was. Mostly those (Reyna, Hazel, and Jason, for example) who had either been raised in the legion, or were more busy with demigod stuff to pay attention. Hazel, of course, was dead and had no idea what kind of music or technology was around these days.

 **(both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.)**

 _Grover_ turned red and muttered something about not having much time. Grover just said that they may not sound good, but they had their own uses.

 **(We waved good-bye... daughter of Zeus.)**

"Ugh, how long are you going to describe it like that?" Thalia groaned, slumping back into her chair. She really didn't like it when they said it like that, especially since she was here now. Alive, and most certainly not a tree.

 **(Chiron was waiting... face, and neck.)**

Hera smiled proudly. He was her greatest creation. Hephaestus and Ares saw her look and grumbled to each other about how they never got looks like that. All she did was nag and nag about who even knew what half the time.

If there was one thing those two could and would agree on, it was how much they disliked their mother sometimes.

 **("This is Argus,"... an eye on things.")**

All the Greeks groaned. "Enough with the bad Argus puns."

"Yeah, those weren't even funny the first time we heard them."

"He really needs to come up with something new." Was heard all around the room. Even Hermes and Apollo joined in. Hera shot them all dark looks, this was her Argus they were talking about. (She thought anyway.)

 **(I heard footsteps...** **of basketball shoes.)**

"Were you in such a hurry to catch them, that you forgot your shoes?" Thalia asked him with a weird look on her face.

"Not exactly." Luke told her with a scowl. Those shoes almost killed Grover and Percy. He hadn't known why exactly he was told to give the shoes to Percy, he was just told to make sure Percy got the quest, and give him the shoes. Kronos would take care of the rest.

 **("Hey!" he panted...** **Luke was around.)**

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Annabeth asked Percy. He just shrugged. Because, honestly, probably not.

Athena narrowed her eyes again and started thinking of ways again to get her Annabeth and the son of Hermes together. She may not approve of some of Hermes ways (theft and pranking and the like), but it was better than the Seaspawn.

 **("Just wanted to...** **kind of normal.)**

"Seriously, you smelled them?" Thalia asked her cousin incredulously.

"What? If they smelled weird, then that meant he wore them a lot, and I didn't want any of that touching my feet! I can't stand wearing other people's worn out shoes." Percy defended himself. "I mean, I will if I have to, but..."

Sally sighed. That is probably left over from all the times they had to get clothes and shoes from consignment shops or Goodwill. Most of those stores had a policy of making sure clothing was clean and in good condition. Others... not so much.

 **(Luke said, " _Maia!")_**

"Ah." Hermes said. "Are you trying to help, or..." He trailed off as he looked at his older son. Luke grimaced, which told Hermes all he needed to know. Those shoes were a trap. _Luke_ frowned at both his older self and his father.

 **(White bird's wings...** **"Awesome!" Grover said.)**

"They are, aren't they?" Hermes said, activating the wings on his own shoes. Just because.

 **(Luke smiled. "Those...** **as much as Annabeth.)**

"Oh?" Thalia said teasingly.

"Not like that." Percy growled. To prove his point, he put his arm around Annabeth, you know, his girlfriend. Thalia just raised her arms in surrender.

But her smirk got bigger.

 **("Hey, man," I said...** **for me, okay?")**

Hermes leaned towards his older son, and murmured, "You wanted to warn him, didn't you?"

Luke sighed, "Yeah, but..." He paused and shook his head, Hermes gave him a look and sighed before patting his shoulder. _Luke's_ frown deepened and he started wondering if his older self hadn't told their father everything, and why. He also started panicking slightly at the thought of them knowing now, he wasn't expecting to leave the throne room alive anymore.

 **(We shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns,)**

"I'm not a dog." Grover grumbled. If anybody asked, he did not enjoy that, at all. His goat half did not momentarily take over and cause him to enjoy it. Nope. Did not happen.

 **(then gave a... might pass out.)**

Athena nodded. Yup, the son of Hermes would be a much better partner for her daughter.

 **(After Luke was...** **you, didn't you?")**

A few people laughed. "Yeah right, like Annabeth would ever..." They trailed off when they noticed Annabeth's red face and the fact that she was not looking at any of them.

"What? You did?"

No comment.

 **("Oh... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?")**

"Because I'm a lovable, cute, daring son of Poseidon." Percy quipped. A few snickered, Athena glared again, and Poseidon added under his breath that he also had a natural leadership quality that drew people to him.

 _Percy_ reached over to high-five his older self, and _Annabeth_ went back to curiously studying the older couple. They seemed quite close despite being children of Athena and Poseidon.

 **(She stomped down... jingling his car keys.)**

"Huh, you use white, we use black." Reyna muttered, for some strange reason picking up on that one fact.

"Well, our camps are kind of opposites..." Percy said with a shrug.

"My grandmother would be able to spout so many Chinese proverbs just from what color of SUV we use. Just the fact that they are black and white would probably have her lecturing us on the principles of Ying and Yang." Frank muttered.

Percy frowned. "Well, if you think about it, that actually fits us perfectly. We are both different sides of the coin, and we might be stronger together." He said.

"Hmm, maybe. We'll see." Reyna said. Gwen nodded beside her. She was being really quiet.

 **(I picked up the... use these, will I?")**

"No, no you would not." Annabeth muttered.

"Why not?" _Luke_ asked.

"Because those are _flying_ shoes." Percy reminded him. Luke looked like they just explained the answers to the universe to him.

He had wondered about that. After all, Percy had seemed to love the shoes, but then gave them to Grover. He never even considered that Percy couldn't use them for fear of being struck down by Zeus.

 **(He shook his head...** **then I got an idea.)**

"Uh-oh."

"Hey!"

 **("Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?")**

"Hey, I just realized, you never mentioned having a weapon with you." Dakota suddenly said. He'd been surprisingly quiet... the Romans were beginning to suspect that his sugar-induced craziness wasn't all quite real.

"That's because I didn't have a weapon at this point. Don't worry, I got one before I left." Percy said. Sally was relieved.

Seriously, though, what was Chiron thinking, letting him run off on a quest without a weapon?

 **(His eyes lit up...** **ready for launch.)**

A few people chuckled at Percy's unique way of putting things. Grover got a bad feeling that he was forgetting something about this...

 _ **("Maia!"**_ **he shouted.)**

"Oh no. Oh, please no." Grover said, he had forgotten about this... somehow. How did he forget about this? Oh, wait, evil demon grandmothers blowing up the bus he was on.

That's how he forgot about this.

A few people looked at him curiously, while a few others looked at him as if he was crazy. The rest were leaning forward in anticipation wanting to know what had Grover so worried. They were just shoes... right?

 **(He got off the... through the grass.)**

People started snickering as they somewhat started to realize what was happening here. Grover's face was starting to get dangerously red with embarrassment.

 **(The winged shoes... like tiny broncos.)**

Hermes winced. "Those shoes can be... temperamental, at first. They will settle down, though." He said with an apologetic shrug in Grover's direction.

 **("Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!")**

"I'm afraid it's not that simple with those shoes." Hermes said again. Luke looked slightly horrified.

He completely forgot to warn Percy about this! Grover could have gotten seriously injured while the shoes had their little tantrum.

 **("Aaaaa!" Grover went... heading toward the van.)**

A few people laughed at the mental image Percy provided, a few more were too horrified and worried for Grover, and a couple were looking at Percy like he suddenly developed two heads.

Grover himself got into a whispered argument with Percy about whether or not he really looked like a possessed lawn mower. Grover lost.

 **(Before I could follow... all got more training.")**

"Yes, they all got several years more training before they were sent out on actual quests. You, however, only had, what, a week? Maybe two?" Poseidon asked, worried.

"Not to mention, he doesn't have a weapon on him." Sally muttered. She was amazed that she was staying so calm right now. But, she figured she would freak out again later. Like, when her son faced Medusa. She knew it happened, how else would he have been able to give her the head to get rid of Gabe. She had just avoided asking for details.

Percy smiled at him, "It's ok, we all made it back safely. I had Annabeth and Grover with me." He said. Zoe said nothing, just looked at him for a moment before she turned back to the book.

She still hated men, and thought they would all be better served as Jackalopes, but... maybe Jackson wasn't so bad. His mother certainly raised him well.

 **("That's okay. I just...** **Annabeth's invisible cap.)**

"Eh, I got something much cooler." Percy said, smirking.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him. "Just because your sword comes back to you whenever you lose it..." She started.

"It's also collapsible. AND, I bet that I could write with it if I need to. I haven't tried it yet though..." Percy interrupted, and then promptly got Riptide out so he could test his new theory. Once he had it out, he examined it for a moment, before putting the cap to the end to the hilt, like you would put the cap of a pen on the end so it didn't get lost. Sure enough, the sword shrunk back down to pen form, except now there was a tip to write with. "Cool!" He said.

Nobody noticed some of the MS shaking their heads and looking to another one who had his arms around one of the girls. (They could tell from the blue and pink trim in the hoods, they just noticed it.) The one the were all looking at shrugged.

Annabeth stared at him for a moment, before she huffed and decided to drop her argument for this new discovery. "You don't even know if there's ink in it." She pointed out.

"Anybody have any paper on them?" He asked, only for a notebook to show up in front of him. "Thank you!" And then, he just started writing in it. "Sweet! I never have to carry a pen in school ever again! Although I will have to be careful about people seeing me pull out a sword in the middle of class..." He mumbled while everyone stared at him.

A sword that collapsed into pen form, and still wrote. Who knew?

"Chiron..." Poseidon started. "Should you not have given him the sword by now? In the book?" He looked at Chiron, wondering if perhaps they shouldn't give him a vacation. He seemed to be getting rather absent-minded. He would still be a trainer, but maybe a fifty year vacation would do him some good. Get away for awhile.

Chiron frowned. "I hope I didn't..." He trailed off.

 **("What am I thinking?"... away without this.")**

"Ah, there we go." Chiron said in relief. Maybe he needed a vacation. He hadn't had one in three thousand years after all...

 **(He pulled a pen from his coat pocket)**

"I carry it on me at all times." Chiron declared. To prove his point, he pulled another Riptide out of his pocket. Poseidon nodded in approval.

 **(and handed it to... Probably cost thirty cents.)**

"Not quite." Everyone who had ever seen Percy whip that pen out and take out monsters like he was taking a stroll in the park said. The Romans shivered just thinking about the war games. That had been equal parts awe-inspiring and terrifying. They just hadn't known how to deal with Percy on the battlefield.

Percy smirked.

 **("Gee," I said. "Thanks."...** **who I was waiting for.)**

Percy cocked his head to the side, and turned to look at his father. Everybody could read the question in his eyes.

Poseidon shrugged. "I gave it to Chiron when you were born. I knew, despite your mothers protests, that you would eventually find your way to camp. Honestly, I'm surprised it took you as long as it did... but, I suppose I underestimated the stubborn nature of Sally Jackson. I left a necklace with him too..." He said, and turned to face Chiron.

Chiron reached into his bag, and pulled said necklace out. It, like Riptide in pen form, didn't look like much. There were two small, gold charms on it. One, in the shape of a sword, the other, a shield. Poseidon reached out and took it from him, staring at it with a frown.

Percy, wisely, figured out that it was supposed to be Lily's, but since nobody knew where she was...

 **(But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one.")**

Percy groaned in frustration. "Maybe I don't want to be the one." He muttered petulantly. Chiron just smiled sadly at him.

 **(I remembered the... sword. Could this be...?)**

"You know, Perce, when Chiron covered you with the Mist, you weren't supposed to remember any of these details. Or that Mrs. Dodds even existed." Grover said bluntly. Percy just shrugged while Poseidon coughed and looked at his wife innocently.

"Its the ocean's essence. It makes it difficult for the Mist to be effectively manipulated around children of the Sea. Depending on how powerful the child is and how strong their connection to the Sea is, the Mist will either have absolutely no effect at all, or the Mist will do more than it was supposed to." Amphitrite said after glaring at her husband.

"I didn't know that." Chiron said, staring at his half-brother.

Poseidon shrugged. "None of us keep it secret exactly, we just don't make it known."

"It's all part of the oceans, and Poseidon's, unpredictable nature." Triton said with a shrug.

The more Percy and Annabeth heard, the more they felt it explained some of, if not all of, Percy's behavior over the years.

 **(I took off the cap... balanced in my hand.)**

"Made from the ocean." Poseidon murmured.

"And he'd been fighting pretty well up to that point using the swords in the armory that weren't balanced for him. Once he did have a balanced sword in hand..." Luke said, somewhat proudly. They may have been enemies, but Luke still taught Percy everything he could and he'd been quite proud of his student, even while trying to kill him.

 **("The sword has... "Its name is Anaklusmos.")**

Zoe paused and Artemis touched her arm, silently asking if she was alright. She nodded and kept reading. She had a feeling that her history would come up eventually. After all, that girl, Thalia, said she was the new Lieutenant of the Hunt, so something obviously happened to her.

 **("Riptide," I translated, surprised the Ancient Greek came so easily.)**

"It should. I wouldn't be surprised if Latin came easily to you as well. As is often the case with some of the more powerful demigods." Chiron said.

Percy coughed. "It actually has been coming pretty easily to me while I was in the Roman camp. It never came that easily before though..." He said with a frown.

"Hm, I imagine that to be because outside of class at Yancy, you never really had anything to do with Latin, at Camp we always speak Greek or English. But, now that you are in the Roman camp, and being exposed to more Latin then Greek..." Chiron trailed off thoughtfully.

Hermes thought back to his thought earlier about Sally being descended from either himself or another Pantheon's version of himself. Now he was thinking maybe his Roman half...

 **("Use it only for... absolutely necessary,)**

"Yeah, Percy. What were you thinking?" Rachel taunted suddenly.

"I was being chased by skeletons who wouldn't die and you surprised me! What was I supposed to do?" Percy exclaimed, surprised that she brought this up now. He thought they buried this hatchet years ago.

"Skeletons?" Hades demanded. Percy waved him off with a mumbled, "It's a long story."

Thalia and Grover grimaced and started grumbling about how much they hated those things. Luke shrunk down on himself and smiled sheepishly when they both turned to glare at him.

 **(of course, but this...** **wickedly sharp blade.)**

"Yeah, it looked like it could do plenty of damage to me." Percy explained.

 **("What do you mean...** **mortals like an illusion.)**

"It does provide a good momentary distraction though if your cornered and need to escape." Annabeth admitted, thinking about the gang in Los Angeles. Percy shrugged. That hadn't been what he really meant to happen, but... hey, it worked.

 **(They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill.)**

"Hey!" Paul complained. Rachel just glared at the old centaur and huffed.

 **(And I should warn... twice as vulnerable.")**

"That doesn't mean what I think it does, does it?" Paul muttered.

"Yup, I can be killed with a steel bullet just as easily as with a celestial bronze blade. Unlike monsters that can only be harmed with celestial bronze." Percy said cheerfully. The others snorted in amusement, but grinned just as cheerfully and nodded in agreement.

Paul just stared at them, wondering how on earth they could be so cheerful discussing their own deaths.

What he didn't know, was that they weren't cheerful at all. They were actually kind of scared of dying, they quite liked living, thank you very much. But, they pretended it didn't bother them so much because, during the war, they kind of had to have that attitude to try and keep the younger campers somewhat calm. Over time, the cheerful mask just stuck.

That, and they were demigods. This was their life. It was dangerous, and once you made it to camp, you got used to the idea of dying pretty quick. Especially after a session of sword training with Percy.

It also helped that they all knew where they were going when they died, as demigods they had several options. Elysium, rebirth and trying for the Isles of the Blest, or hoping their parent steps in and offers them immortality. That last one was probably never going to happen, but they could always dream.

Of course, there was always the fear that they would have a repeat of what happened with Thalia and they would end up as trees or something for the rest of the world's existence.

 **("Good to know."...** **ballpoint pen again.)**

"That is seriously cool though." Leo muttered while his hands fiddled with some parts. His cappuccino machine lay forgotten behind them all while he put together some bits and pieces he needed to finish it. He paused and wondered if he could figure out how to make something like Riptide. Not exactly like that, obviously. Like Chiron said, the sword had a long history, that and it was made in the sea. But maybe...

 **(I tucked it in... losing pens at school.)**

"Yes, you were/are." Both Grover's muttered. He'd gone through a lot of pens giving them to Percy. And he knew that Chiron had lent him a lot of pens during the year too.

"Yes, I know." Chiron informed Percy with a small smile. How many times just in the first semester had Percy needed a pen because he lost his, yet he swore up and down that it was in his pocket when he left the dorm.

"Well, luckily Riptide is not an ordinary pen." Percy said sheepishly.

 **("You can't," Chiron said.**

 **"Can't what?"**

 **"Lose the pen,")**

"Can he read minds?" _Percy_ whispered to Triton.

Triton grinned and whispered back, "No, but he was Percy's teacher in school, so he would know of his habit of losing pens, so he probably figured out what he was worried about from the look on his face."

"Oh."

 **(he said. "It is... your pocket. Try it.")**

"The only downside is if I'm not wearing anything with pockets in them." Percy complained, thinking of the incident in the gym during the dodgeball game. Those monsters took the game a little _too_ seriously.

"I so need to recreate that." Leo muttered absently as he put some more parts together. Some of them did not want to go together. Beckendorf and Hephaestus watched in interest, but otherwise let him be.

 **(I was wary, but... in the grass.)**

"It would have been such a pain to find it again if it didn't come back." Percy muttered. He was so glad the pen came back and Chiron's little demonstration with his sword didn't fail. That would have been really bad.

 **("It may take a...** **the pen was there.)**

"I have to get something like that." Jason muttered. He would be perfectly happy with the sword/spear coin he used to have though. Stupid giant.

 **("Okay, that's _extremely..._** **powerful thing, Percy.")**

"Only if used correctly and on the right people..." Thalia said, thinking about what Poseidon and his family said earlier about it not affecting those from the sea as much as others. Plus, mortals like Sally and Rachel, who just weren't affected by it at all.

 **("Mist?"**

 **"Yes. Read _The Iliad..._ version of reality.")**

Sally and Rachel both sighed. "Chiron, you forgot to mention that some of us mortals can see through the Mist." Sally said. She was started to get frustrated with how much information the teacher was forgetting to tell her boy.

Chiron inclined his head in agreement, but didn't say anything, merely looked apologetic.

"And that's a very simple explanation." Athena murmured.

 **(I put Riptide back...** **the Land of the Dead.)**

"A good sword is all you really need most of the time." Ares muttered.

"Provided, of course, that you actually know how to use that good sword." Athena added with a raised eyebrow in his direction. He waved her off impatiently.

 **("Chiron..." I said... _before_ them, right?")**

Zeus scowled. He didn't like acknowledging that.

A few others frowned, they couldn't figure out where Percy was going with this.

 **("Four ages before** **... before the gods?")**

"Not good." Aphrodite muttered. As the only one there who lived through it... there were a few other minor gods, well... technically Zoe was there too, but she was isolated in her garden with her sisters.

When the demigods looked at her curiously, she sighed, "I'm the oldest one here, I was born not long after Kronos took control. You forget, he's something like my older half-brother. So, I was around then. Trust me, it was not a good time for anyone who wasn't a Titan, a sibling, or one of their children." She said, glancing at Zoe, who frowned, but shrugged and nodded. She didn't mention Chiron. He didn't like advertising who his father was, and he was born towards the end of Kronos reign anyway, he was practically still a foal when Zeus took over.

 **(Chiron pursed his lips... of cheap entertainment.)**

A few of the older Greeks glanced towards Luke and Chris, remembering what Chris told them they were promised. Luke and Chris exchanged looks, hindsight was, as they say, twenty-twenty.

 **(It was only in the...** **up _everything,_ right?")**

"Oh." That was where he was going with it. Chiron smiled sadly at Percy. Yet another child who was burdened with the fate of the known world. Sometimes he really hated his relatives. Especially when their kids had to go through the hard times while pondering if their parents really cared.

Sally frowned. This was part of why she didn't want her son going to that camp, they would train him, then expect him to go fight and, because of his parentage, they would expect him to fight the big fights that no child should ever be burdened with.

 **(Chiron gave me a... suffer such a doom,)**

Zeus scowled, he did not like thinking about this, he did his best not to acknowledge the fact that if the Fates decided, his rule would come to an end, and there was nothing he could do about it.

 **(or that we should...** **war in human history.")**

"So, no pressure or anything." Will muttered. Percy overheard and just snorted.

"Chiron, maybe you should have just left it at telling him to keep a clear head." Paul said, putting a comforting arm around Sally when she groaned, worried.

 **("Relax," I said. "I'm very relaxed.")**

Annabeth turned and raised an eyebrow in his direction, which he just shrugged at.

 **(When I got to... Thalia, daughter of Zeus,)**

"How many times are you going to comment on that?" Thalia grumbled, annoyed with the constant reminders that she used to be a tree.

 **(Chiron was now... your typical centaur.)**

"I love your sarcasm, sometimes, Prissy." Clarisse said. Percy shrugged. A few people just chuckled.

 **(Argus drove us out... were normal carpoolers.)**

A few Greeks nodded, it did feel really strange to be out and about in the mortal world again after a couple weeks in camp. Watching all those people who had no idea that there was this whole other world right under their noses that they weren't aware of, and never would be if they had any say in it.

 **(After two weeks at...** **not a single monster.")**

One of the MS, the one that the others seemed to be paying the most attention to during all this, leaned forward and slapped his hand against his forehead, repeatedly.

"No!" Everyone moaned.

"Percy, why would you say that?" Nico demanded.

"This was my first quest! I didn't know any better yet!"

"Don't worry, he learned." Annabeth assured everyone.

 **(She gave me an... way, seaweed brain.")**

Several nodded in agreement. That was very bad luck to talk that way.

 **("Remind me again-...** **"I don't hate you.")**

"Could've fooled us." Clarisse muttered. Annabeth shot her a look, which she ignored. Rachel watched in interest, she didn't know that Annabeth used to hate Percy, you would have never guessed from how they acted now.

 **("Could've fooled me.")**

"See, Prissy agrees."

 **(She folded her cap... parents are rivals.")**

"What does how your mother and I act around each other have anything to do with you?" Poseidon asked Annabeth seriously. She turned red, because, honestly, it didn't. Her mother and Poseidon may not get along, but that didn't mean she couldn't get along with children of Poseidon.

 **("Why?"**

 **She sighed. "How... is _hugely_ disrespectful.)**

"Oh, for crying out loud." Poseidon muttered. "For the last time, she wasn't my girlfriend. I only went in there because I thought that she wouldn't dare try anything in somebodies temple, I was wrong. I was trying to get away from her. I couldn't go home, because Amphitrite was having her sisters over, and my palace was over-run by females!"

"Oh, please, you really expect any of us to believe that? Why won't you just admit it already?" Athena scoffed.

Amphitrite frowned at her. "Maybe because he has been telling the truth. A truth you refuse to believe because then it would mean admitting you were wrong about something. We had been having problems with Medusa stalking Poseidon for months before that incident, no matter how many times we had her arrested, or escorted off Olympus or out of Atlantis. We had seven different restraining orders out on her. As I have told you before. Poseidon would never disrespect one of his family like that."

All the demigods blinked, and the Athena kids frowned. The history books all had Athena's version of events in them. There had been nothing about Medusa stalking Poseidon. So, which version did they trust? They didn't know what to think right now. They knew that history tended to be written by the winners, but...

Athena narrowed her eyes at Amphitrite, but Zoe decided it would be best if they kept reading. They could continue this argument when the children weren't in the room. No doubt it would get messy, again. Personally though, she was on Poseidon's side, she was one of those who was asked several times to escort Medusa off Olympus because she was getting too bold with the Lord of the Seas.

 **(Another time, Athena... saltwater spring for his gift.)**

Poseidon sighed. "I honestly wasn't trying. This was right after the fiasco with Medusa, I was trying to not rile her up anymore than she already was. My original plan for my gift was this very rare, very delicious herb that only grows in the deepest parts of the ocean. It's so rare we never even bothered to name it. But, it is delicious. I was going to give them some, along with a way to grow it themselves. I've found that it can be grown above sea in the right conditions." He said with a shrug. Athena narrowed her eyes.

"That's why you had our divers searching for it, and then suddenly called them off right after everything with Medusa." Amphitrite said in understanding. He never told her what his idea for the competition for the city would be until the day of. He had wanted to surprise her with it, to say she had been less than impressed and confused at the 'big reveal' had been an understatement. Poseidon shrugged.

 **(My mom created...** **really like olives.")**

"Well, they did use olive oil for everything." Hermes said.

"Including medicine." Apollo added.

"Or to show off their wealth." Demeter said.

 **("Oh, forget it."...** **I could understand.")**

Athena scowled.

"What is with you and pizza?" Clarisse asked fondly, although to those who did not know the true extent of hers and Percy's relationship, she just seemed to be annoyed.

"Pizza is delicious. Almost as good as my moms cookies." Percy proclaimed, staring at her as if she grew another head. Clarisse rolled her eyes and shook her head. She knew there was more to it, but she didn't push. Sally smiled sadly. They couldn't often afford much by way of food when the kids were younger, especially before she met Gabe. Pizza was always a rare treat, so the kids always enjoyed it when they could get it. She tried to always set some money aside so they could at least go for their birthdays.

 **("I said, forget it!"...** **his neck winked at me.)**

"You think he knew?" Annabeth whispered to Percy, who just grinned and shrugged.

"He might have guessed. He has been around for long time, he's probably seen other couples that fight like we used to before getting together." He whispered back.

 **(Traffic slowed us down...** **mom and Gabe's apartment.)**

Annabeth wrapped an arm around him, and he looked towards his mom, as if to reassure himself that they got her out. She was home, safe, and away from Gabe.

 **(Taped to a mailbox... YOU SEEN THIS BOY?)**

"Honestly, though. Did he have to use that picture? It was one of those horrible school pictures, you know, the ones where you stand there and the photographer has you make this weird face that is supposed to be a smile?" Percy ranted.

Annabeth looked amused as she patted him on the arm consolingly. Inwardly, she was laughing her head off as he continued grumbling about stupid school photographers and Yancy Academy.

 **(I ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice.)**

"Oh, we noticed it." Annabeth and Grover both chimed in, Percy just groaned and said that of course they did.

 **(Argus unloaded our... then drove away,)**

Sally blinked. That was... he honestly just left a couple of kids and a satyr standing there at the bus station? In New York?! Where anything could happen? Sure, it was pretty safe if you knew what to watch out for and where not to go, but... still. He just left them there.

 **(the eye on the back...** **poker, not even missing her.)**

There were a few growls coming from the older demigods. In there not-so-humble opinions, it was impossible not to miss Sally. Sally was amazing. And no, the fact that she opened up her home to any demigod that needed a place to crash for the night or medical care had little to nothing to do with it. She was the kind of person that just drew you in, and made you want to never let her go.

 **(Grover shouldered his...** **something?"**

 **"Just your emotions.")**

"I thought you said he was almost impossible to read?" Rachel said, confused.

"He is." Grover said. "The key word there being _almost._ There are times when some of his emotions are strong enough that I can pick them out of the jumbled mess his emotions generally are. In that case, it didn't take much to realize what he was thinking or feeling when I noticed where he was looking." He said with a shrug. Percy smiled slightly in Grover's direction.

 **(He shrugged. "Guess...** **forgotten to tell me.)**

"I think I told you everything relevant..." Grover muttered.

Percy narrowed his eyes at him. "You never told me about the Empathy link, you just did it." He said deadpan. Grover blinked at him, then turned red. Oh, yeah...

He quickly recovered, ignoring his younger self staring at him in disbelief. "That was an emergency! And besides, I offered to dissolve it once we were back at camp and safe. You're the one who decided to keep it." He grumbled.

 **("Your mom married... him for a week.")**

A few people, particularly the girls, were disgusted. Of course, they had already smelled Gabe for themselves, but to hear that Percy still smelled like him even after a week of being at Camp, surrounded by other demigods, and the woods... the fact that Percy still smelled like that a week later... that was truly disgusting.

They were also suddenly grateful that they didn't have the enhanced sense of smell that Satyrs did.

 **("Thanks," I said. "Where's the nearest shower?")**

"Said sarcastically as he possibly could." Grover muttered. Seriously though, was it weird that one of the things he missed the most about his friend was his sarcasm?

Percy heard him and grinned.

 **("You should be grateful... of any demigod.)**

"A good solution, unfortunately, you brought the monster right into your home." Poseidon muttered with a frown. He wasn't trying to blame her or anything, she wasn't exactly safe there either, but still! Sally frowned too and looked ashamed.

Ashamed that she had no idea what was going on in her own home, to her children.

 **(As soon as I took... you feel any better.")**

While Sally nodded her head with a sad smile, because she did love her kids, _Percy_ shook his head. "Thanks for trying, Grover." He whispered. He didn't like all this talk of his mother being gone. Honestly, the older kids were actually getting a little worried, he was being a little too quiet on the subject for their liking.

Triton frowned down at the boy beside him, he then nudged him to sit over with his mother. Honestly, there was only so much a brother could do, sometimes, and he was not admitting to anything, a little boy just needed his mother.

 **(It didn't, but I... thought. She isn't gone.)**

"While you aren't wrong in her not being gone, this much denial is not healthy. If she had actually been gone, you would have only been hurting yourself." Hades said with a frown. As somebody who ruled the dead, he knew how some people could react to the deaths of their loved ones, he'd seen it all.

"I was determined to get her back any way possible. Even if she was really dead, I would have figured something out." Percy said with a shrug.

"Yes, and I would have killed you for it." Hades deadpanned.

"Yes, but my mom would have been alive." Percy said back.

"Yes, until I sent Thanatos to bring her back to the Underworld, where she would have belonged." Hades said with a sigh. This made Percy go quiet. He hadn't considered that part...

Poseidon and Hestia, while proud and happy for how much Percy cared for his mother, were worried about how he didn't seem to care for himself all that much.

 **(I wondered if... up as they were.)**

"Nope, my moment of clarity into them had disappeared." Grover grumbled.

"Moment of clarity?" Will asked.

Grover grumbled for another moment before he answered. "Whenever the jumbled mess straightens out enough to read, I only get a moment before it goes back to being all jumbled up and crazy." He explained.

Poseidon nodded, "The sea is ever changing. It is never the same from one moment to the next." He murmured.

 **(I was glad he and... to this crazy quest.)**

"Don't worry, we knew the whole time what you were really after." Annabeth said with a grin.

Percy shrugged, while they all ignored Zeus's complaining about what could possibly be more important than his lightning bolt, and what other reason he'd be on this quest. Those who knew that Percy's real reason was is mother scowled at him.

 **(The truth was, I... Zeus's lightning bolt,)**

Everyone ignored Zeus demanding to know why not, in favor of Zoe continuing to read.

 **(or saving the world,... I resented Poseidon)**

Poseidon winced, but didn't say anything. He knew Percy no longer felt this way, but it was still hard to hear. Especially one who had always been more emotionally invested in his children than most of the others. He knew it was dangerous, but he also knew Percy would earn immortality many times over, the only question was if Percy would take it or not. He figured he probably would... eventually. After he lived a little first, and especially if Annabeth was offered immortality with him...

He wasn't the type to leave those he loved behind like that.

 **(for never visiting me,... child-support check.)**

Poseidon was startled out of his thoughts. "I sent checks. I sent you a check every Friday if I could. Those days I couldn't were mostly because of Zeus, but I would always send double the next week." He said to Sally. He had been startled earlier when the apartment they lived in was described, but figured that that had been Gabe's doing, or that she had been hiding the money from him while spending it on herself and the kids discreetly, even setting some aside for school and stuff. Amphitrite nodded in agreement. Poseidon always tried his best to take care of his children, even if he couldn't be there. No matter how much she didn't really approve.

Now it was Sally's turn to look startled. "We never got any checks. At least..." She said, slowly turning towards Gabe. "Not that I knew of." She said angrily.

Paul frowned. "When we get out of here, I'm going to go to the bank or find a lawyer or something, see if he didn't have any bank accounts set up separate from yours that never got handed over to you after his disappearance." He said soothingly. Sally nodded, but she was still shaking in anger.

So, _Percy_ did what he needed to calm her down. He plopped himself right down on her lap and leaned back with his head on her shoulder.

 **(He'd only claimed me because he needed a job done.)**

"That's not true." Poseidon whispered. Percy smiled over at him.

 **(All I cared about... going to give her back.)**

Hades groaned and mumbled something about demigods who loved to give him headaches. Seriously, why did they always think that he would, or for that matter, COULD just give them their loved ones back after they were dead? It was a good thing for Perseus that his mother wasn't actually dead.

 _ **(You will be betrayed by...**_ ** _Shut up,_ I told it.)**

"Hearing voices in your head is the first sign of madness!" Thalia sang out teasingly.

"No, I'm pretty sure its when you talk back to them." Will muttered to his seat-mates. Then he checked to make sure Thalia hadn't heard him, he didn't feel like getting into an argument with her over it. Honestly, its not like he was a Healer or a son of Apollo or anything... Nope, not like that at all.

"Aren't we all mad?" Rachel asked cheerfully.

The other demigods paused a moment, before they snickered as nodded in agreement. It was true, after all. They were all just a little insane (more like a lot, but who's really keeping track?). Their parents just shook their heads.

 **(The rain kept coming down.)**

Poseidon frowned. "It keeps mentioning the rain a lot." He muttered.

"Which means it must be important later on in some way..." Paul said in agreement. Hey, he was an English teacher. He knew a lot about foreshadowing.

 **(We got restless waiting... one of Grover's apples.)**

A few people tilted their heads curiously. Didn't they mention something about hackey sack apples earlier when they were having one of their 'inside joke moments'? Were they actually going to find out what that was all about now?

Percy moaned as he realized something. When Annabeth glanced at him curiously, he leaned over to whisper, "We're not going to have very many inside jokes left after these books." He said.

Her eyes widened. "Aw man! But it's so much fun watching them try to figure out what we're talking about!" She whined. Percy nodded mournfully.

 **(Annabeth was unbelievable.)**

"Why thank you." Annabeth said in a snobby accent with her nose turned up in the air. She only held it for a moment before her, Percy, and Grover started laughing, making the parents look at them strangely before shaking their heads at the teenagers.

Chiron just smiled, he loved watching his students have fun, and act their ages. They trained so long and so much, Capture the Flag was really his way of just letting the teenagers be teenagers, but even that was another training method. All of his students, no matter how young, were really too mature for their ages. Something he attributed to knowing who their parents were, and their combat training.

 **(She could bounce... shoulder, whatever.)**

Annabeth smiled slightly in pride at the compliment.

 **(I wasn't too bad myself.)**

Artemis narrowed her eyes slightly. That had been the first real example of male egotism from Percy so far. She decided to withhold judgement until they read more.

"Yeah, you did pretty good too. Of course, you haven't been trained nearly as long... you could probably do what I was doing now that you've had a few years training." Annabeth said, looking at Percy thoughtfully.

Percy raised an eyebrow and said, "We'll see."

 **(The game ended when... close to his mouth.)**

A few people guessed what was about to happen to the apple and were already laughing.

 **(In one mega goat... stem, and all.)**

Zoe had to stop reading for a few minutes to let everyone stop laughing enough for her to be heard. Both Grovers just sat there, tomato red. A quick glance towards the MS showed that they, two were trying not to laugh, or at least, to laugh quietly.

 **(Grover blushed. He tried... busy cracking up.)**

As was the rest of the throne room. Still...

 **(Finally the bus came... cafeteria delicacy- enchiladas.)**

Poseidon frowned. He really wished that it was food he smelled and not something else... Unfortunately, this was his demigod son he was talking about.

A few of the kids muttered about how on earth he could eat those, school food was disgusting.

 **("What is it?" I asked..** **. "Maybe it's nothing.")**

"No!" Several of the gods and demigods yelled. Zeus growled, he really didn't like Grover. Was it this kind of thinking that almost got his Thalia killed?

"You never think it's nothing." Poseidon said sternly while Dionysus frowned at the younger satyr.

Grover grimaced while _Grover_ cowered a bit at Dionysus' frown, but they both nodded that they understood.

 **(But I could tell it... my shoulder, too.)**

A few people nodded in approval. You should always heed the satyr's advice, if they started getting jumpy about something but didn't know what was wrong, then something was probably stalking you.

 **(I was relieved when... in the back of the bus.)**

"Lesson one," Percy started telling the younger kids. "Never, NEVER sit in the back. It makes for very poor escapes." He lectured. Annabeth and Grover nodded in agreement, while a few of the older kids grimaced in remembrance.

"While it is good to keep an eye on the whole bus for monsters, you can do that just as easily by sitting sideways in your seat with your back against the window." Clarisse added.

 **(We stowed our backpacks.)**

"Lesson two," Annabeth said this time. "Never stow your bags. Keep them in hand or on your back at ALL times." She said.

 **(Annabeth kept slapping... my knee. "Percy.")**

A few people glanced over at them, worried. At that point in their relationship, Annabeth went out of her way to avoid any kind of physical contact with the Seaspawn, not even tapping him on the shoulder if she could help it. For her to grab his knee like that...

This couldn't be good.

 **(An old lady had just boarded the bus.)**

A few were confused. What was wrong with a little old lady? A few who lived by the words 'do not judge by the appearance', knew differently. That little old lady was a monster. A bad one.

One that Annabeth recognized from somewhere. Those were always the worst ones, because they seemed to think it to be their life mission to get revenge on you for the first time you killed them. Annoyingly enough.

 **(She wore a crumpled... carried a big paisley purse.)**

Throughout this description, Hades sank back into his throne while glancing at Poseidon, whose eyes were narrowing as he found the description to be familiar and didn't like it.

A few of the girls made faces at the description of the ladies outfit.

 **(When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered,)**

A few people gulped, those who had yet to figure that this old lady had to be a monster finally figured it out, and they started reassuring themselves that Percy and the other two obviously made it out alright. But still, the monsters whose eyes glittered, were usually the cruelest of the bunch.

 **(and my heart skipped a beat.**

 **It was Mrs. Dodds.)**

Poseidon glared at Hades quickly, which made Hades gulp and start to pray that Alecto didn't harm Percy, before glancing worriedly at his son.

A few people's eyes widened. That wasn't good.

Ares leaned forward. "Finally, some action coming up." He said gleefully. It had been getting boring. A few people gave him dark looks.

 **(Older, more withered, but... two more old ladies:)**

Hades eyes widened, he wasn't expecting all three of the Furies to be there. He was expecting just Alecto, since that was who he'd already sent. Poseidon was going to kill him if Perseus got hurt, and dying hurt!

"What?" Sally croaked. She had stayed silent when hearing about Mrs. Dodds being back, because, ok, she may have been holding back last time, but Percy still dealt with her. And now he had training. But all three of them at once?

"Don't worry, mom. I'm right here, we made it out alright." Percy said, trying to reassure his mother. But, like all times when a parent is told not to worry, it only made her worry more.

Everyone else was staring at the book wide-eyed. A few were muttering, 'not good, not good,' over and over again. Especially the futures. Percy had never really shared what happened on his quests. They knew what the quest was, they knew he accomplished his goals, and they knew whatever the three let slip, but they never actually just sat and talked about it. For him to face all three Furies the first day out... it didn't bode well for the rest of the trip.

The Romans eyes widened. He faced all three Furies when he was younger and lived? With barely any training? Suddenly, they wanted to see him in action when he had his memories.

Yes, they'd seen him fight at the war games, but that was without his memories, without him knowing the extent of what he himself could do. They all wondered just what he could do now that he had his memories back... Hazel and Frank were just wondering about the trip to Alaska, and how it was going to go.

Ares was getting even more excited now, all three of them? Oh man! Now he could see some more of what the kid could do.

 **(one in a green hat... wrinkled velvet dresses.)**

The girls turned green when they heard that they were all wearing the same disgusting sounding outfits.

 **(Triplet demon grandmothers.)**

Hades cracked a small smile while trying to avoid Poseidon's glare. They could be rather grandmotherly... when they wanted to be. Honestly, they may be his main torturers, but when they were off duty, they were kind of like everyone's favorite grandmother.

 **(They sat in the front row, right behind the driver.)**

"Yet another reason why you should never sit in the back. It gives potential enemies a chance to block your escape." Thalia said with a raised eyebrow at Annabeth. Luke, too, was watching Annabeth, while _Luke_ was waiting for _Annabeth_ to indicate that she heard them. Thalia and Luke had taught Annabeth that very thing back towards the beginning when they first found her.

Annabeth grimaced. She had done a lot of things she had been taught never to do on this quest. Stuff that, if it weren't for Percy and his crazy, bipolar luck, she probably wouldn't have survived the consequences of.

 **(The two on the aisle... message: nobody leaves.)**

The worry levels spiked. How did they get out of this?

They were trapped.

"That's not ominous at all." Nico muttered.

 **(The bus pulled out... didn't stay dead long,")**

"Well of course not." Hades said, annoyed. "After all, I need her in the Fields of Punishment. She can't do her job when she's dead." It would have taken quite a bit of his power to speed up the reforming process and then to bring her back out of the Pit. He hated doing that, too. Although, why he would do that just to send her right back out to find that boy... it was looking more and more like his Helm got stolen along with Zeus's Bolt.

Poseidon shot a glare at him, which effectively shut him up, although he did continue to grumble quietly. Persephone laid a hand on his arm in comfort. She had figured out already that the Helm was taken, and she had already worked out that Hades wouldn't have said anything about it to the rest of their family. The only ones he would have gone to for help, were Poseidon and Hestia. And they both had there own issues with the Bolt having been stolen.

 **(I said, trying to keep my voice from quivering.)**

"You were only marginally successful." Annabeth kindly informed her boyfriend. Percy scowled for a moment before he stuck his tongue out at her. She just quirked an eyebrow.

 **("I thought you said..** **. "You're obviously not.")**

"No, no you're not." A few people muttered.

"Yeah, we figured that out years ago, but I don't think we realized just how bad your luck really is, Perce." Thalia informed her cousin. Percy stuck his tongue out at her while Annabeth and Grover grumbled that you would have to actually be there to truly understand.

"Actually, his luck is more unreliable." Grover said to the room. "One minute, he'll be the luckiest guy on earth, the next, he's the unluckiest guy on earth and we're almost dead before his luck kicks in again and we somehow escape." He finished with a sigh. A sigh echoed by Annabeth.

"How have you two survived this long?" Nico asked, ignoring Percy's yell of 'Hey!'

"Believe me, Nico, we ask ourselves that all the time." The two answer mournfully, ignoring Percy's look of betrayal. Sally just shook her head at her sons antics while _Percy_ shook with laughter in her lap.

She hugged him closer to her, it had been a while since her boy was small enough for them to do this.

Nobody noticed Athena glaring at Percy and going over her plans for getting him away from her daughter. That Luke boy looked so much better for her.

 **("All three of them," Grover whimpered.)**

Thalia winced. The last time Grover would have seen the Furies together would have been the night she died and turned into a tree. Before that, they had been chasing the four of them all through the countryside while Grover tried to get them to Camp Half-Blood before they caught up. Grover had been terrified out of his mind during that, but had somehow managed to push his terror to the side for Annabeth's sake, but she had no doubt that he had a severe nervous breakdown afterward.

Probably nightmares, too. She was pretty sure that Annabeth would have suffered the same, she didn't know about Luke, he was tough, but he probably would have had nightmares too for a bit.

 **( _"Di immortales!"..._** **obviously thinking hard.)**

"If I stopped thinking about a way out, I would have probably have broken down. The last time I had seen them..." She said, and shuddered, glancing at Thalia, who looked deep in thought about something. Everyone understood though, the last time she had seen the Furies, Thalia had died.

 **("The Furies. The three... No problem. No problem.)**

"I was trying to stay calm and reassure the boys." She said.

 **(We'll just slip out...** **suggested.**

 **There wasn't one.)**

For some, the worry and fear was replaced by confusion.

"Ok, talk about a massive safety violation." Beckendorf muttered with a frown. "There should be a way out other than the door, in case the bus catches fire or some other emergency, right?" He said louder. Even if there wasn't a back exit, it was probably taken up by seats or something, there should have been emergency exits in the windows, the windows should have been able to pop open.

Sally nodded. "How on earth did this company stay in business? Wouldn't they have failed their Department of Transportation inspections?" She questioned. Her worry for her son was put on temporary hold in her confusion.

Hermes frowned. "Unless some of the company big-shots bribed the inspector. Which, sadly, does happen sometimes." He said, his disgust clear.

Sally made a noise of disgust. "Wouldn't it be cheaper just to buy new buses?" She asked, exasperated. "Ones that would pass inspection?"

"Sure, but the fact that they got called out on an inspection also looks bad to potential customers. Even if they did fix the problem." Poseidon said with a frown of his own. He was just mad that this company put his son in danger like that.

Hermes frowned again. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. The Department of Transportation is part of my domain after all... Unfortunately, I don't always catch problems like this." He said with a nod to everybody.

 **(Even if there had... for the Lincoln Tunnel.)**

"What does that matter?" One of the Romans asked.

"Too much traffic and too little stop lights." Percy said.

 **("They won't attack... said. "Will they?")**

"Yes." Hades said bluntly. "If anything, they might actually attack _because_ there are witnesses around." Percy's eyes widened.

"They don't care for witnesses, as far as Monsters are concerned, that's what the Mist is there for, so they can do what they want to us demigods no matter where we are." Thalia grumbled.

Hades tilted in head in agreement with what she said, even though that wasn't quite what he meant. When the Furies got into a mood to hunt, like they were doing with Perseus and his friends, then they reveled in the panic and confusion they caused the mortals around them.

 **("Mortals don't have... see through the Mist.")**

"Some mortals, anyway." Sally said, gesturing between herself and Rachel.

Annabeth's face went slightly red. "I wasn't thinking about those who could see through the Mist." She muttered.

 **("They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?")**

"That... would actually be kind of hilarious." Thalia said thoughtfully. Percy glared at her and Annabeth threw her dagger, which Thalia caught and tossed back without blinking. Paul watched this happen with wide eyes, slightly horrified when he saw the sharp weapon being tossed around.

Leo, still working on his cappuccino machine, raised an eyebrow and decided that he really liked Percy. They seemed to have a similar sense of humor, and were both sarcastic like nobody's business when they wanted to be. Jason and Piper could also see the similarities and were thinking that the trip to Rome would be interesting.

Ares spoke up then, "If three little old ladies could kill you, kid, then you obviously aren't as good as everyone around you is saying you are. Besides, Little Cuz is right, that would be hilarious to see!" He said with a grin. None of them found his grin at all creepy. At all.

 **(She thought about it... exit in the roof...?")**

Annabeth made a face. "Although the question of how we would have reached it before being attacked once they noticed what we doing and then gotten off the top of the bus..." She muttered.

"Especially while the bus was moving." Grover muttered too.

 **(We hit the Lincoln Tunnel... the sounds of the rain.)**

Poseidon narrowed his eyes at his younger brother. 'Again, the rain is being mentioned. And there is only one who can control the weather like that, and have a REASON to at this point in the book.' He thought. He was worried. Percy had two powerful gods coming after him right now... both at the same time. The Furies on behalf of Hades, and he had a feeling that the storm caused by Zeus was going to have its own impact.

 **(Mrs. Dodds got up...** **said the third sister.)**

"Well, that's not suspicious or strange at all." Will muttered sarcastically.

"Not to mention, too much information." Chris said in agreement with a frown. Most everybody else nodded in agreement.

"Why would you announce something like that? Especially to a bus full of strangers." A few people grumbled.

Ares ignored the comments and leaned forward again. Honestly, the action was taking too long to get here.

 **(They all started coming..** **. "Percy, take my hat.")**

Clarisse frowned. "Are you sure that would have worked, Annabeth?" She asked.

Annabeth grimaced, but didn't say anything. She had known it would be a long shot, but she had also felt it was the best chance they had at the time. Especially since she thought they were after Percy.

 **("What?"**

 **"You're the one... front and get away.")**

Zoe frowned and stopped reading to ask, "But, what about the two of you?" Annabeth looked uncomfortable for a moment and looked away. Sally made a worried noise.

Annabeth and Grover had been planning to sacrifice themselves if necessary so Percy could get away and hopefully either get back to camp, or go on and complete the quest. What kind of twelve year old makes choices like that? A small voice in her head reminded her that demigods were not normal people. Even without their training to make those same kinds of choices.

 **("But you guys-"**

 **"There's an... not notice us,")**

"I don't like outside chances." Athena said, with a hint of worry in her voice. Yes, she didn't exactly care as much as some of the others, but she did still care, to a point.

 **(Annabeth said. "You're... might be overpowering.")**

"Which also means they'll be able to smell him when they go past and know exactly where he is anyway." Hades pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

Annabeth sighed. "I know, I was hoping that since it was such a confined space, it would make it more difficult to pinpoint where exactly the smell was coming from, his scent would have spread out a little more evenly throughout the bus enough to cover the whole area." She explained. Hades nodded thoughtfully, that was true... but his Furies were too good for that.

He didn't say anything else though, it was obvious they made it off the bus in one piece, so he decided to let it go. He also decided not to mention that the Furies would have heard their entire conversation, their hearing was very sharp. So... they would have known the demigods plan the whole time.

 **("I can't just leave you.")**

Zoe stopped reading again to glance at her Lady. Artemis was sitting back in her throne, with her arms crossed over her chest, clearly deep in thought. Probably thinking about the few male heroes she had met over the years that had an attitude and personality similar to Percy's. Some of those, eventually, became cocky and arrogant. They gave into the fame and cheering crowds. Others, kept to their ideals and actually tried to avoid the cheering crowds. Artemis was probably wondering which of those categories Percy would fall under.

 **("Don't worry about us,"...** **wasn't there anymore.)**

"It does take some getting used to." _Annabeth_ said quietly. She had only recently gotten her hat from her mother, so she was still getting used to it.

The older Greeks all frowned at the kids for a minute. They had been pretty quiet the past few chapters... they wondered what was wrong. Especially considering they were in a room with two sets of Stoll brothers.

Come to think of it... why were the Stoll brothers so quiet right now...? When they looked around to find them, they saw them sitting in the corner, writing something down in a notebook. At first, they were terrified, wondering what they were doing... but then they noticed that the brothers were occasionally glancing at either the MS, or Gabe. When they glanced at the MS, their faces turned thoughtful, like they were trying to figure something out.

They were probably trying to figure out who they were. Although, a few people had the idea that they might be the Argo crew from even further into the future. Who knew.

When they looked at Gabe, their expressions were... actually pretty close to the mischievous expression Percy got on his face earlier when he revealed himself to be the true Pranking King of Camp Half-Blood.

As long as they didn't get caught up in whatever they were planning for Gabe, they could care less what the boys had planned for him.

 **(I started creeping...** **looked straight at me.)**

A few people held their breath, wanting to hear what happened next and if Percy was alright. Well, obviously he was, he was HERE, but he might not have been alright at the time.

"Yes, she knew exactly where he was." Hades muttered, and Annabeth turned white. She hadn't realized that.

When the Fury stopped, she hadn't known that Percy had been RIGHT there.

 **(My heart was pounding...** **her sisters kept going.)**

A few people sighed in relief. Then frowned in confusion. Why did they just keep going?

Hades frowned. "They would only do that if Perseus wasn't what they were looking for. When they smelled Perseus there, they didn't sense whatever it is on him, so they decided to look for it with his companions..." He muttered. "But what could they be looking for?" He asked, he hoped it wasn't his Helm. That would be bad. Sadly, he had a bad feeling that that was exactly what it was.

 **(I was free. I made... from the back row.)**

Everyone tensed again, what was happening with Annabeth and Grover? Were they alright?

Thalia got up and went to pull Annabeth into her arms, just to reassure herself that her little sister was alright, while _Luke_ pulled _Annabeth_ into a hug as well. Annabeth rolled her eyes, but accepted it, and _Annabeth_ curled deeper into her hug for comfort.

Ares was practically bouncing in his seat from anticipation of the fight coming up.

 **(The old ladies were... get any uglier-)**

"Hey!" Hades said, annoyed. Percy looked at him and blinked. Then he shrugged and went back to looking around at everyone while they read the book. Hades narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything when he heard Persephone trying to muffle her giggles beside him.

He sighed and sat back again, putting an arm around his wife.

 **(but their bodies had... feet like gargoyle claws.)**

A couple of girls shuddered at the description. Hades gave them a dark look before turning away and muttering something to Persephone about girls putting too much stock in appearance.

 **(Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.)**

Leo looked up in interest, and tilted his head to the side. Now there was an idea... If he could get ahold of a whip that could withstand his flames... he would probably have to craft it himself... he wouldn't have to search through his tool belt every time something happened and he needed a weapon, hoping to find something he could use. Sure, he could make stuff for basically any situation... if he had the right tools and it wasn't too complicated for the belt, not to mention if he could get the others around him to stall for enough time.

Otherwise, he was stuck flinging fireballs everywhere, and with that there was always the risk of hitting his comrades or catching his surroundings on fire... which was bad. The Great London Fire, that was probably from a Son of Hephaestus flinging a fireball in the wrong direction during a fight with a monster.

But a whip... that didn't run as much of a risk of going somewhere he didn't want it to, or missing his target and hitting something way behind them that it wasn't supposed to hit. And if it did look like it was going to hit something it shouldn't, then he could just extinguish the flame before it hit...

It would take a while to train with it of course, after he made it... but...

A massive grin took over his face as he abandoned his mostly finished cappuccino machine for now and chose to instead take out his sketchbook so he could plan out his new toy- er... weapon. Yeah, weapon.

Hephaestus and Beckendorf noticed what he was doing, and looked at each other curiously, wondering what their son/brother was up to now. Obviously something about that last sentence caught his attention for him to abandon his current project. People of the Forge didn't tend to abandon projects until they were either finished or it was clear that it would never work. Either because they just didn't have the right knowledge, yet, or they didn't have the right materials to finish and didn't know where to get those materials.

Jason and Piper watched Leo with a little bit of worry. They knew the look in his eye. It meant he had an idea and they probably wouldn't be seeing much of him until it was completed. They hated it when he did that. But, how were you going to keep a Son of Hephaestus away from a workshop?

"Finally! Some action!" Ares yelled. "This was getting way too boring." He informed everyone else, cheerfully ignoring the glares from Poseidon and Sally. Although they did scare him a bit, (a lot), not that he would ever admit it, of course.

 **(The Furies surrounded... "Where is it? Where?")**

"It? You are sure they were asking about _it?_ " Athena asked curiously. When the trio nodded, she sat back into her throne with a frown, what on earth could they be looking for? Why would Hades send them after Percy if they didn't want him? While it was true that some monsters would refer to demigods as 'it', and considered them to be playthings, a lot of them still referred to demigods as being part human, they at least respected the power wielded by demigods and the might backing them through their parents. But... the Furies were some of those that referred to demigods as people.

Apollo and Hermes looked at each other. The only thing they could think of was if something of Hades also got stolen, and he was blaming Percy for it as well as Zeus. The only thing they could think of that would be stolen and for him to send the Furies to find would be his Helm. And, sadly, they didn't see any of their family aside from Poseidon and Hestia helping their uncle out if he mentioned it. Poseidon had other problems on his hands right now with Zeus threatening him with war to be able to help out, and Hestia would be trying to mediate and calm the two brothers down... which meant Hades wouldn't have seen the point in mentioning it.

Which meant Percy would now have two gods on his tail, either trying to capture him or kill him. And all this while on a deadline to return a stolen item while trying to prevent a civil war on Olympus.

A civil war that could tear the world apart. If they didn't know that even Ares wouldn't orchestrate something of that level, they would suspect him to be behind all this.

 **(The other people on... _something,_ all right.)**

"Hm... I've always wondered just what it is mortals see sometimes. I mean, I know they see Mrs. O'Leary as a poodle for some reason, but..." Percy said thoughtfully as he got the notebook and Riptide out in pen form and started setting it up to play Hangman with Annabeth (in Ancient Greek, of course).

Annabeth shrugged. "Who knows. You could always ask Paul. He's the only one here who's affected by the Mist." She said as she started to think about what to guess first. Percy paused and said that was true.

He then looked at Paul and said he would ask later, as he drew the head of the person after Annabeth guessed wrong. They both ignored everyone staring at them incredulously. Finally, Zoe shook her head and decided to ignore the two of them, they obviously had a screw loose somewhere.

 **("He's not here!" Annabeth yelled. "He's gone!")**

"Uh, Annabeth?" Rachel asked.

Annabeth paused her guessing for a second and blushed. "I guess I missed what she said in the heat of the moment." She said, embarrassed. Everyone nodded in understanding though, that had happened to everybody at some point.

 **(The Furies raised their whips.)**

People tensed back up and _Luke_ and Thalia tightened their holds on their respective Annabeth's. Percy ignored how Thalia also whispered a letter in her ear. Since Thalia had already guessed the word, somehow... He did give her a dirty look first though, before ignoring it.

Ares leaned forward.

 **(Annabeth drew her... prepared to throw it.)**

Reyna blinked. "Why a tin can?" She asked. Fa- Satyr's were so strange...

Grover blushed. "I meant to grab my reed pipes out of my pocket, but I still had my hand in my bag from earlier, and I was already holding the can. So, I just went with it." He said with a shrug, turning red when people laughed. Even Percy.

"Well, your acting is very good, I thought you did it on purpose." Percy said, looking up from where he was drawing the first foot on his hangman. Grover smiled at him.

 **(What I did next... poster child of the year.)**

"WHAT?! No, that's me!" Leo yelled in indignation after he shook himself out of his planning haze. He stared at Percy, unblinking.

Percy looked up from his hangman and blinked at him. "I'm pretty sure my mom would claim otherwise." He said and went back to his game.

Annabeth laughed, then cocked her head to the side. "Actually, just from what I've seen of Leo the past few months, I would actually say the two of you are about tied for the position." She said seriously.

Hazel and Frank looked horrified, they were going to be in close quarters with these two for how long now? Jason noticed their looks and leaned over. "Don't worry, I made sure there was space on the ship for the rest of us to go get some time to ourselves, and be away from Leo, and I guess Percy too." He whispered.

They sighed in relief. "Thank you, Jason." Hazel breathed. He quirked a grin at her.

 **(The bus driver was... his rearview mirror.)**

Hermes winced, he was going to have to spend some time toughening up the requirements for getting a CDL license. Or, at least get some training requirements changed up a bit. The driver should have found a spot to pull over before turning his attention to the fight. Otherwise, he risked getting into a wreck and injuring his passengers. Hopefully it was just this one driver, but... well, it bore going over anyway, he had been putting it off for a couple of years now... busy doing other things, like keeping the US postal service in business...

 **(Still invisible, I... jerked it to the left.)**

"Percy! What if you had crashed into another car?!" Sally scolded.

"I let the driver keep THAT much control." Percy defended himself, honestly, he wasn't that much of an idiot. Besides, even at that age, he knew enough about driving to not let that happen. Sally frowned, but let it go.

"Now, THAT'S how you cause a distraction." Ares said in approval.

 **(Everybody howled as... against the windows.)**

"It was," Annabeth said.

"Oh, good. I was worried it was actually one of you guys..."

 **("Hey!" the driver yelled. "Hey- whoa!")**

Percy decided not to mention that the 'whoa' from the driver was because he had to swerve to avoid another car. See, he let the driver have THAT much control of the bus.

 **(We wrestled for... a mile behind us.)**

Sally squeaked and tightened her grip on the son on her lap. Mrs. O'Leary whimpered a little and put her head down beside her human. She knew he would be fine against the Furies, he was strong, but a crash was out of his control if it happened. And she didn't like hearing about him being hurt.

Percy looked beside him and patted his dog on the nose, smiling at her softly. Some of the younger kids once again wondered how on earth he got a Hellhound for a pet.

 **(We careened out... aside like bowling pins.)**

"You said-" Sally started sternly.

"We didn't actually hit any of them! They were swerving to avoid us too!"

 **(Somehow the driver... veering toward the river.)**

A few people sighed in relief. There was water nearby, Percy would be safe. They conveniently forgot the part where he still didn't really know how to use his powers on command. And the fact that water might mean safety for Percy, but not necessarily for Annabeth and Grover. Or the part where, if they went into the river, the other passengers wouldn't be as safe. Especially from drowning.

So far, him using his powers seemed to consist of his emotions getting away from him... not a good thing, especially when he needed them in a situation like this.

 **(Another great idea: I hit the emergency brake.)**

Sally sighed in relief. Percy could get off the bus and they could take the fight out into the open, or, better yet, get to the river.

 **(The bus wailed,... was the first one out,)**

Thalia tilted her head to the side, *"Shouldn't he have been the last one off?" She asked. A few people muttered things like, 'coward,' and 'can't even do that much.'

Zoe and Artemis both muttered something about disgusting males. For once, none of the males nearby protested.

Hermes frowned. He would have to check the regulations of the company, and probably double check the DOT regulations. Because Thalia had a point. Although, he supposed the driver couldn't be blamed for panicking... Hermes probably would have too in this situation... if he weren't a god and all that...

Ares ignored them, now that the bus was stopped and the mortals were out of the way, Percy had some more room to actually fight.

 **(the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him.)**

"That's why the driver needed to be the last one out. So the other passengers didn't potentially trample each other." Thalia said.

 **(I stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass.)**

Sally nodded in relief, that was good. She didn't want her boy getting trampled. Especially when there were still enemies nearby.

 **(The Furies regained their... Grover threw tin cans.)**

The two of them got strange looks, but they just ignored everyone else, although their faces were rather red.

They kind of froze up, not that they would actually ever admit it. It was just... the last time they had been faced with all three Furies...

Ares blinked at that one, but shrugged. Whatever worked. Although, given their training, the fact they seemed to freeze like that was a little embarrassing...

 **(I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go,)**

Zoe and Artemis narrowed their eyes. If he left right then, left Grover and Annabeth to fend for themselves, then he would lose every ounce of respect they had for him. Which, while not a lot by virtue of his male gender, was quite a bit considering where it came from.

 **(but I couldn't leave my friends.)**

The Hunters eyes stayed narrowed, but instead of suspicion, it was in thought. Ares nodded in approval too.

You never left one of yours behind unless there was absolutely no other choice. Now, if it was a choice between risking everyone to save the one, or getting everyone else home, then you still did what you could to save the one, but if there was nothing to be done... then sometimes it was best to get everyone home that you could. That was just the way it sometimes was in fights, or war in general. Otherwise, leave no man behind.

 **(I took off the...** **seemed like an excellent idea.)**

There was some nervous laughter at that. Ares raised an eyebrow, he knew the boy wouldn't leave though. Especially since Ares had already worked out the kids fatal flaw to be loyalty. He just had to watch the kid interact with the people around him to know that. Plus, the fact that he was so determined to save his mother, showing her a loyalty rarely seen anymore.

 **(Mrs. Dodds stalked... my F- math test.)**

"F-? How do you get an F-? I didn't even know they did F-." Thalia said incredulously.

"It was Mrs. Dodds." Was all Percy said.

 **(Every time she flicked... the barbed leather.)**

Leo's eyes gleamed at hearing another description of the whip. Unfortunately, he didn't think leather would work for him. He would either be constantly oiling it and never doing anything else, or it would burn up after the first few times of use. The Furies whips were obviously magical, and the fire was an internal source. The fire for his whips would be external. Plus, he would need to have some Celestial Bronze at least in the tip... he went back to planning. He made a note off to the side of his plans to ask Hades or Ares for more information regarding the Furies whips. Ares knew weapons, and Hades knew the Furies, so.

Piper and Jason saw the gleam and scooted away from him.

 **(Her two ugly sisters... like huge nasty lizards.)**

"They are not lizards!" Hades protested. Internally, he was smirking. Oh, he liked his nephews sense of humor, even if he would never show it.

"They crawled like them!"

 **("Perseus Jackson," Mrs. Dodds... south than Georgia.)**

"Although, she does have a strange fondness for Georgia. She's always coming back with peaches for some reason." Hades said with a shrug. Everyone decided not to comment.

 **("You have offended...** **math teacher," I told her.)**

"I'll agree with that." Both Grovers and Nico muttered.

"She's pretty good as a lawyer and she doesn't do a bad job teaching history, either." Nico offered up.

"Just who does your dad have teaching you down there?" Percy asked, curious.

"Well... Alecto for history; both mortal and otherwise, Perseus and Jason for swordplay and/or fighting in general, Isaac Newton and Einstein take turns for anything involving numbers and science... there are a few others in there too for English, Greek, Latin, French for some strange reason..." He said with a shrug. As if it was everyday that you get taught by some of the greatest minds in history, plus the fact that they were dead.

Both Annabeth's eyes widened at the fact that Nico was being taught by these people, two of them were sons of Athena, but they were geniuses of their time! Their ideas were still being used today despite the fact that mortals were constantly changing their views and making new discoveries.

Persephone blinked and turned to her husband, who was nodded in satisfaction at the list Nico just reeled off. "Didn't Einstein swear he would never teach again?" She asked.

He nodded, but shrugged. "Obviously, I convinced him somehow." He said, he wasn't worried about it. He knew what Einstein said, but he also knew that the man had a firm belief that knowledge was made to be shared. He must have seen something in Nico, either that or Hades had said something that convinced him.

 **(She growled.)**

"That's because she hates math. She loves history though." Nico said with a shrug.

"Hippocampi!" Annabeth said triumphantly, out of nowhere.

They turned just in time to see Percy hanging his head grumbling about only having two more parts to go to the hangman and he would have won. When they realized that Hippocampi was the word Annabeth had been trying to guess, they rolled their eyes and turned back to the book.

Percy handed the notebook to Annabeth for her turn, although she had to find her own pen.

 **(Annabeth and Grover... looking for an opening.)**

Ares nodded in approval. The two of them had their wits about them again. That was good. Although he did wish the Satyr had something other than a tin can.

 **(I took the ballpoint... double-edged sword.)**

Ares leaned forward again, eager to hear just how much better the kid was with some actual training under his belt.

 **(The Furies hesitated.)**

"Most monsters do when they see a blade appear out of nowhere." Percy said matter-of-factly.

"They can also sense Riptide's long history. Those that are old enough have probably also been killed by the same blade many times, from several different heroes." Poseidon said. "I rarely gift it to one of my children, it has only had seven owners since Hercules lost it, but each of them put it to good use." He said, satisfied. Percy looked awed, and he smiled at his father.

 **(Mrs. Dodds had felt... like seeing it again.)**

"No, she has often ranted about how much she wants to melt the blade down and scatter its remains in Tartarus." Nico told Percy.

Percy blinked at him, then he held his blade protectively to his chest, his expression turning into one of horror. Poseidon chuckled. "Don't worry, nothing will happen to Riptide." He assured his son. Zoe looked on, quietly hoping the blade would be destroyed, but at the same time, knowing that it was in good hands with Perseus Jackson. At least for now.

 **("Submit now,")**

"Percy submit? Yeah, that's never going to happen." The Stoll brothers chimed in from their corner of the room, where they were still planning.

Everyone else laughed and agreed. Poseidon looked decidedly smug. The sea bowed to no one.

 **(she hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment.")**

Hades tilted his head to the side for a moment. "She doesn't get to decide that." He said mildly, wondering just how mad Alecto was with Perseus and why she thought they would fall for it when one of them was a daughter of Athena.

 **("Nice try," I told her...** **side lunged at me.)**

Everyone either winced in sympathy at the tight spot Percy was in at the moment (the Titan War veterans), cried out in worry (Sally, Paul, and a few of the younger kids), or leaned forward in either worry or anticipation (Ares and Poseidon).

Apollo and Will started muttering about how to treat burn wounds.

 **(My hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead,)**

"How would you know what _that_ one felt like?!" Sally demanded. Percy jumped and muttered something about Mt. St. Helens and Telkhines. Sally's eyes got wide, nobody ever told her that Percy was there when the volcano erupted a few years ago! (Of course, what she didn't know, yet, was that he was the one to set it off...)

Annabeth's eyes narrowed at her boyfriend. She did not like talking about _that_ particular adventure. Not only because of Calypso, but because she thought Percy had died! For two weeks! She had been speaking at his funeral service when he suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

 **(but I managed not to drop Riptide.)**

"Good!" Ares shouted. "That's the most rookie mistake to make, the fact that your already not making it is a good thing." He said.

 **(I stuck the Fury... exploded into dust.)**

Hades winced, he would have just used a lot of energy to bring Alecto back, now he would have to bring back one of her sisters, possibly both or even all three of them.

Terrific.

This was why he rarely let all three of them out of the Underworld at the same time. So he didn't have to deal with bringing all three of them back at once, it was difficult enough bringing one of them back early.

Ares nodded in approval at the way the fight was going so far. He got one out of the way before he turned to another, he didn't try and take them both on at once. That was good. Considering the close quarters they were fighting in, fighting them both at once would have been tantamount to suicide. He was also enjoying the action in the book. Listening to them talk and plan all the time was so boring. Sure, there were the funny moments, but nothing beat a good, old fashioned fight.

 **(Annabeth got Mrs. Dodds... out of her hands.)**

"Oh, yeah, you don't want to do that. Even the handle will burn you. They burn everyone who touches them that is not their owner." Hades informed the room. Ares hummed, it was still a good tactic. Also practical to disarm your opponent.

Leo tilted his head to the side. Now that would be handy... and a good safety mechanism. The problem would be how to get his to do that... He would have to possibly consult with Beckendorf on that one. He had heard how his older half-brother was a genius with crafting after all. He would be able to help Leo with the enchanting part, since that was probably what it would take. The children of Hephaestus had their own magic (not that they advertised it), but, unlike children of Hecate, their magic could only work when crafting. Unfortunately, that part of his talent had always been harder for Leo to grasp than the rest of it.

Jake and Nyssa had theorized that it was because he was a Fire-user. They also said that, since he had such a hard time grasping his forge-magic, as they called it, that it was why he wasn't affected by the curse. The curse was a real thing that affected their projects through their magic. They weren't sure if, when Beckendorf died, that they weren't too depressed and downhearted for their magic to work properly anymore, or if some children of Hecate on the Titan's side of the war hadn't actually cursed them. And of course, none of Hecate's children in camp would tell them anything.

 **("Ow!" he yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!")**

Hades nodded. Yup, that was about right. Not even he could touch them without feeling a little uncomfortable. Not that it could actually hurt him.

 **(The Fury I'd hilt-slammed... open like a pinata.)**

Hades winced, there was at least two he would have to bring back from Tartarus. Oh man, he was going to be in a really bad mood in these books by the time Perseus and his companions reached his palace. Because, he had no doubt that they would.

Ares nodded in approval again, he didn't allow himself to be distracted by the pain his friend was in. That was good, too.

 **(Mrs. Dodds was trying... Annabeth held on)**

"Huh. I don't think anyone has ever managed to stay on before. At least, not for this long." Hades said, blinking out of his thoughts.

Annabeth shrugged while she filled in the letters Percy had correctly guessed. "I'm stubborn." She said smugly. Ares was starting to consider asking Percy and Annabeth for a spar. He liked what he was hearing so far. The Furies may have been holding back due to close quarters and the fact that it wasn't really the demigods they were after and they wanted answers, but the fact two of them were taken out by a barely trained demigod was still impressive. Annabeth was doing a very good job with Alecto as well.

 **(while Grover got Mrs. Dodds's legs tied up in her own whip.)**

Everyone blinked for a moment until they processed what they just heard. Then, all it took was a snort, before some were rolling around on the ground, all tension gone as they pictured a Fury getting hogtied with her own whip.

After Leo let himself laugh about it, he started jotting notes down on ideas to make sure that didn't happen to him when he had his whip.

 **(Finally they shoved... so she kept falling down.)**

"You know, at the time I was still too terrified, but now, that was hilarious." Percy said to Annabeth. She nodded, laughter in her eyes and a smile on her face.

"I still can't believe I did that." Grover mumbled.

Nico finally calmed down enough to inform the room that this was one story that he had never heard. Usually, he heard every story that existed about Percy and his friends getting the better of her, mainly because she was ranting about how she would destroy him because of it. This one, she must have really not wanted to share. It was pretty embarrassing for her, he supposed.

 **("Zeus will destroy you!")**

"That's not her choice either." Zeus said. "How dare she go around telling people what I will and will not do. I don't want her speaking for me." He grumbled.

 **(she promised. "Hades will have your soul!")**

"Hmm, no, I think I'll pass. You are much too amusing alive, after all." Hades said thoughtfully, while ignoring Sally and Poseidon's glares. He was rewarded, though, with a snort from Perseus.

 _ **("Braccas meas vescimini!"**_ **I yelled.)**

All the Romans started laughing at what he said, and the fact he said it to the Furies, which just made Percy go red and the Greeks to stare at them in confusion. What did he say?

The gods, though, were wondering why he just randomly yelled Latin, and not Greek. Either Percy learned more than he thought he did in Latin with Mr. Brunner, or... could Sally be a Roman legacy...?

Hermes nodded. Her being a legacy of Mercury was looking more likely. Although, that was assuming she was a legacy at all.

 **(I wasn't sure where... "Eat my pants!")**

Hazel nodded, "It did!" Before she started laughing again, which of course set off all the Greeks now that they knew what was said.

Ares snorted, trash talk during fights never failed to be amusing. Some of the stupidest insults could be thrown in tense situations.

 **(Thunder shook the... back of my neck.)**

Poseidon narrowed his eyes at Zeus. If what happened next was what he think was going to happen...

Thalia narrowed her eyes too. She knew what was going to happen. They had the same feeling back in California before their car was blasted off the side of the road when they going to the Garden of Hespirides. No wonder Percy had known what was going to happen before even she did. It had happened to him before.

 **("Get out!" Annabeth...** **"We're going to die!")**

A few people snorted in amusement at the dramatics. Mortals could be kind of pathetic sometimes in how they dealt with issues. Not all, mind, but a lot of them.

"That's pretty hilarious in hindsight, too." Percy said thoughtfully as he watched Annabeth draw an arm.

 **(A Hawaiian-shirted tourist... I could recap my sword.)**

"That's not good." Everyone said. Who knew what the picture would show his sword as being, and considering he was just involved in that fight, and the newspapers (through Gabe) were blaming him for his mother's disappearance...

"No it was not." Percy said. "Well, I suppose we made it work in our favor later on." He said to Annabeth, who shrugged.

"Later, maybe, but it was really annoying to deal with the entire trip to California." She said.

 **("Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left our-"**

 _ **BOOOOOM!)**_

"Exactly why you should keep your bags in hand at all times." Annabeth said sagely to the younger kids.

Poseidon sat up quickly, glaring at Zeus. "Brother..." He warned.

Zeus looked at his brother, hiding his slight fear, "I thought he had stolen my Master Bolt! Would you not deal with a thief the same way?" He demanded.

"No, I would capture them and make them tell me where they hid whatever they stole from me. Not just blow them up! Especially not when I knew perfectly well that if anything happened to that person, then that person's parents would get extremely... _upset_." Poseidon hissed. Reminding his brother that he was extremely protective of his children. Especially when they were younger. As they got older and could handle themselves more, he started watching them a little less. He had learned the hard way with Triton, some kids did not appreciate parents hanging over them once they got to a certain age. At all. Although he still let them fight their own battles no matter their age.

Zeus paled slightly.

"Brothers." Hestia said quietly, causing Poseidon to back down slightly, but he still glared at Zeus.

 **(The windows of the... was not yet dead.)**

"How?" A few people yelled, dumbfounded. How on earth did she survive that?

Hades sighed in relief. At least he wouldn't have to bring all three of them back. One was bad enough, let alone two. Especially so soon after already bringing one back.

 **("Run!" Annabeth said. "She's calling for reinforcements!)**

"I don't think it was reinforcements as much as she was just angry." Hades said with a shrug.

 **(We have to get...** **nothing but darkness ahead.)**

Zoe put the book down. "That's the end of the chapter." She said, still slightly stunned that a demigod with barely two weeks training was able to take out two Furies. Whether those Furies were hindered by the battleground or not, that was still quite the accomplishment.

Everyone else was silent for a moment as they processed what just happened, Percy and Annabeth quietly continued their game of Hangman.

"Well, that ending wasn't ominous for the rest of the book at all." Paul said, trying to be cheerful. Sally just patted him on the back consolingly when it didn't work.

That was when both Sally and Hestia noticed a few of the younger kids yawning, especially now that the excitement in this chapter was over with. They both stood up at the same time, after Sally put _Percy_ down, of course, and announced it was time for bed. They both looked at each other, slightly surprised, but pleased. Everyone else grumbled, but between the two of them, they got everyone shuffled off to their rooms.

* * *

*My mom is a bus driver, she's constantly going on about how the driver should never leave the bus if there are still passengers onboard. Especially in an emergency


	15. Chapter 15

For those who don't remember, the MS are the mysterious seven demigods that the Fates don't want revealing themselves yet. (More like I want them here right now and just don't feel like having to write the parts for three Percy's and three Annabeth's, so they are staying 'hidden' for now.) They will play a part later on.

 _past demigods who have an older self,_ the future demigods, **the mysterious seven demigods, since they all have a younger counterpart.**

And it's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that, I've been working and getting ready to go back to college after taking the past year off. For a bit there I also decided to focus on my other story, To Live a Life, and then I hit a bit of writers block with this story.

I'm back now though! Here is the next chapter, thank you for your patience.

* * *

 _"Well, that ending wasn't ominous for the rest of the book at all." Paul said, trying to be cheerful. Sally just patted him on the back consolingly when it didn't work._

 _That was when both Sally and Hestia noticed a few of the younger kids yawning, especially now that the excitement in this chapter was over with. They both stood up at the same time, after Sally put Percy down, of course, and announced it was time for bed. They both looked at each other, slightly surprised, but pleased. Everyone else grumbled, but between the two of them, they got everyone shuffled off to their rooms._

The next morning, the younger demigods got to watch the same show as the day before, the older Greeks just would not wake up until Sally stood in the middle of the room and announced she had cookies and to get them while they were still warm. Thus started the chase through the palace with Percy trying to keep his beloved cookies away from the others. Unlike yesterday though, he actually managed to get away and keep the bag to himself this time.

It was a laughing Sally who handed the defeated demigods a few cookies each along with a pat on the back for their efforts. When they got into the breakfast room, it was to find the MS, gods, and younger demigods already there. When she saw the MS, she went over to speak with the one she knew to be her son. "You missed the chase this morning." She said with a smile, holding out yet another bag of cookies baked fresh this morning. **Percy** reached out to take the bag, nodding his head in thanks, but she pulled it back, "Not without a hug, young man." She said mock-sternly. They looked at her before **Percy** huffed a laugh and gave her the requested hug after making sure nobody was watching.

"Should have known you would know." He muttered. There was a smile on what she could see of his face though, even as he handed the demanding demigods around him a cookie each and kept the rest to himself, although he did give **Annabeth** a second one when she asked. That's when she knew that whatever happened in the coming months, brought them all close. Percy never willingly shared his cookies like that.

She didn't say anything about it though, "Of course I know, I'm your mother." She countered instead as she watched. She sat next to him. "Everyone came home safe, I hope?" She asked, she was slightly worried by how hoarse his voice sounded.

Of course, he'd had another nightmare the night before and had, as was usual, screamed himself hoarse before **Annabeth** finally got to him and managed to wake him up. She was the only one who could do it safely after all, the others all risked loss of limb if they tried, or worse. There was a pause, which Sally did not like, "Yeah, everyone came home." He left out the part where they thought that **Leo** sacrificed himself was thought to be dead for the longest time, only for him to come back long enough to go off on a quest with a suddenly mortal Apollo to hopefully stop another war, or at least to get their Oracle back before the other war started. He also left out that both he and **Annabeth** sometimes felt like they were still _there_.

She frowned, she knew there was much he wasn't telling her, which was normal when it came to his demigod life since he didn't want her worrying, but she didn't pry. It would be hard enough on him when they got that far in the books. "Well, the important part is that you are home. Any, issues, resulting from the trip can be taken care of in time." She said, she knew that there would be bad nights, he had them all the time left over from the Titan war, she could only imagine the Giant war would be worse. He smiled in relief that she wasn't pushing it, not that he thought for a moment that she would.

She stayed over in their corner through breakfast, talking with her son, getting to know the demigods her Percy would be going to Rome with once they finally got the ship built and sailed to the Roman camp. When Poseidon looked around for her, not spotting her with the others, he smiled when he saw her with the oldest **Percy** and his friends, and went back to his conversation with Hades and Hermes.

While Sally was with the MS, the future Greeks grabbed Luke and went into a relatively private corner for that talk they'd been wanting to have. When he realized what was going on, he sighed in resignation and sat in the middle of the group. This wasn't really a safe place for him to be, but it was where they wanted him, so he went with it, if only to keep the peace and because he knew that they needed to be able to hit him if they wished. They would need some way to vent, and if that was through a punch to the face over something he said, then so be it. After all the pain he caused them...

He was surprised, though, when Chris sat next to him and put a hand on his shoulder in support. Chris... he had hurt Chris too. He sent Chris into that Maze, knowing he would probably never come out again. And if he did, he wouldn't be anywhere close to sane. He was only here because of Clarisse. But, maybe Chris could also sympathize with him the most, after all, Chris had been in Kronos' army, he had been a traitor too.

"So," Percy started. "I know you kind of changed your mind there at the very end and helped us, but there's still the fact that you betrayed us and helped him rise in the first place." Percy started. He left out the part about the pit scorpion, they would find out in the books, besides, Annabeth would probably bring it up at some point. And Thalia's tree...

"And led other demigods to their deaths by recruiting them." Clarisse added, glancing at Chris, if Mr. D hadn't come back and agreed to heal his mind when he did... Nobody noticed Percy flinch at that, he had never told anyone about that young demigod he saw on the cruise ship, the night they went to blow it up. The kid couldn't have been older than thirteen... Percy didn't even know if the kid made it out, or if he took the other demigods with him. Somehow, he doubted it.

Luke winced at Clarisse's tone, and waited a moment to see if they had anything else to add before he spoke. "I won't offer excuses, I have none. You all had dreams, the same as me, and yet none of you listened. I could say that he got me at my weakest, but that would only be partially true. I could say that I didn't know what I was doing, that I was confused, but that wouldn't be true at all. I knew exactly what I was doing." Luke said, his voice strained. It wasn't reassuring when some of their faces darkened further. "I truly believed in what I was doing, up until I gave him my body and saw what he was really like and what he really wanted to do."

Everyone looked at him for a moment. "And after you realized what he really wanted to do?" Thalia asked.

"I tried to fight him. But, after I gave him my body, there wasn't much I could do. He's a Titan, and I'm just a demigod son of Hermes. The only reason I was doing as well as I could is because he underestimated me... he thought he had entirely crushed my consciousness, and he was still weakened from his time in the Pit. So, I was able to fight back a little. But, by the time I was able to fight back with enough strength, it was too late. We were already in the throne room of Olympus." Luke said. "All I can do is apologize, and ask you to help me make sure my younger self doesn't make the same mistakes." He finished, and looked down.

They were all silent for a moment, considering what he said. When he finally looked up, he saw them looking at Percy. Which made sense, he was their leader. After a minute, Percy and Annabeth looked at each other and started having a silent conversation. Finally, Annabeth nodded and Percy turned to look at them. "We will help with your younger self. However, our main concern is that... if it's not _Luke_ , then we won't know when Kronos will start his war. At least with you we had an idea what was going on, because we knew who it was and it wasn't hard to keep an eye on you. Especially when you were in the cruise ship."

Luke looked at him, confused, for a second before he understood. "You mean using him as a spy, to control the situation."

Annabeth spoke up. "If we have to. We won't if there is any other choice. That will depend on what happens during these books. But, Kronos will rise, it is only a matter of who helps him and when. If we can control the who and when... I don't know, it will depend on what is read and what is decided before we leave."

None of them looked happy, but they accepted the decision of their leaders. Luke nodded slowly. "I can speak with my father, he's already guessed everything. He could help, he might have an idea of how to do this."

They all nodded. "If the younger kids do end up doing this, though, then how on earth would _Luke_ hide what's really going on? 'Cuz, I don't know about you guys, but I'm not putting him in this position without telling him. And, you all know how Kronos gets in your head. He has ways of learning your deepest secrets and fears." Clarisse said.

"I don't know." Annabeth admitted. "But, that's where the gods would come in. Luke, Chris, you two talk to Hermes. The rest of us... we'll have to get our parents alone at some point, preferably _after_ the first book, and discuss this with them. They've been around a long time, they should have an idea."

"Why both me and Chris? And what about Travis and Connor?" Luke asked.

Annabeth hesitated and glanced at Clarisse. "Out of all of us, you two probably know Kronos the best. You two know how his army actually operated, you led it," She gestured towards Luke, "And you were in it." She gestured towards Chris. "You could give Hermes insight that Travis and Connor couldn't." Clarisse scowled at her for bringing that up with Chris, but she didn't say anything, because Annabeth was right.

Chris and Luke looked at each other, before they nodded at her. After that, they all finished their breakfast in silence, with Percy being the only one to notice Poseidon, Hades, and Hermes eating their own breakfast's close enough to have heard the conversation. Poseidon looked at Hermes in concern.

"Are you going to be alright, reading these books?" He asked his nephew quietly. They knew what he was really asking, would he be alright with hearing how his son, his favorite son, betrayed them all. Having to hear some of the stuff that Luke probably said about Hermes himself. They would be hearing a lot of details that Luke hadn't told him the night before.

Hermes looked at his future sons, all four of them, before looking at his favorite uncle and nodding. "I have to know," He said, turning to look at _Luke_. "How am I going to be able to help my son if I don't." He looked down at his food. "I don't like what they are proposing though, Uncle."

Poseidon said nothing, only watched him.

Hermes sighed and looked down at his food. "I don't like it at all, but at the same time I can't deny the kids have a point. This way we can at least control the situation somewhat. Kronos is going to rise again sooner or later, we have always known it... even if some of us live in denial." He muttered, thinking of his father.

Poseidon chuckled. "Your father... he is very proud. I can only be grateful that Athena seems to be the only one to have really inherited his pride to quite the extent that he takes it." Hermes flushed red while Poseidon chuckled again. "But, you know he doesn't react well to any perceived threats to his rule. His response has always been to either make something out of nothing and blow it out of proportion, bury his head and pretend there is no threat until he has to acknowledge it, or to over-react and make it worse than it really is. It's been like that since long before you were born." He sighed. "Some of that is probably mine and Hades fault." Hermes looked startled, he had never heard any of this before. "After we were freed from our father's stomach... well, we didn't know what to do with this new brother, always boasting about how he freed us, how he was so great, and... well, we might have indulged him a little too much in the beginning."

"It didn't help any when we gave him the throne." Hades grumbled.

"If I remember right, that was mother's idea... I forget what her reasons were though." Poseidon said quietly.

He was silent for a moment. "If the Fates will it, we may have to go with the kids plan." He fixed his nephew with a warm look. "At least this time he will have you there to support him. I don't know the full circumstances of his betrayal, and I don't know the details of what you two discussed last night, but I can already tell just by watching the younger one that he, like so many other demigods, feels abandoned, and angry with us, their parents. These books will hopefully help many of the others see what we see. This could be what brings us together again. The kids were right, if it isn't _Luke_ , then who knows who it will be?"

Hermes smiled briefly before it disappeared. "I worry, Luke isn't the only one of my children that turned. And, from what I've heard, he caused much pain to both those at camp, and those who followed him. If we can't get _Luke_ to see, then he will join Kronos, and not as a spy for us. But, this time he will know of the future events that are in the books. If we cannot get him to see... then the upcoming war could be much worse for us than it was for them." He glanced at the future Greek demigods, gaze resting on his four children, before he turned to watch his younger four children. "I don't know what the older ones went through, but I don't want that for the younger ones."

"I know, I don't either." Poseidon himself glanced at his eight year old _Percy_. He was still so young, he wouldn't have even known about the Greek world for another four years if it weren't for the Fates. And even then, he would have been thrown into a war where the fate of the known world rested on his shoulders even before he learned of it. Zeus put that burden on his shoulders the moment he accused Percy of stealing the bolt for him, Poseidon.

He would never regret being with Sally (as unhappy as his wife would be hearing that), or having Percy and Lily. But... that didn't mean he didn't regret placing such burdens on their shoulders. Burdens that just seemed to come with the territory of being a child of him, Zeus, or Hades.

Hermes sighed. "I guess we just have to finish these books if we truly want to know what we can change." He muttered and Poseidon nodded in agreement.

It was at that moment that Zeus stood up and looked around. "Well, if everyone is finished eating, then we should keep reading, the sooner we do, the sooner we can find out who took the Bolt." Nobody saw either Luke flinch.

When they made their way to the throne room, _Annabeth_ raised her hand and asked if she could read next. Annabeth frowned, "Um, can I see the chapter title first?" She asked. When she had the book in her hands and saw the title, she turned to Percy and Grover. "It's the emporium." They glanced at each other and had a silent debate.

"It should be alright for her to read... I don't think any of us got seriously injured in this one." Percy said slowly. "Are you going to be alright with this?" He asked Grover, quietly. He was thinking about his uncle, who got turned into a statue. Grover nodded while Annabeth handed the book off to her younger self. All the adults looked worried. What was so bad about this emporium?

 _Annabeth_ read, " **Chapter eleven: We visit the Garden Gnome Emporium"**

 _Annabeth_ paused, and glanced at her older self and the son of Poseidon. "A garden gnome emporium?" She asked. The trio glanced at each other again, before nodding. It honestly didn't sound all that dangerous, until you learned who was in charge...

Hades cocked his head to the side. "The only gnome emporium that I can think of being in New Jersey is the one you use, dear." He said, turning to Persephone.

She frowned, but nodded. "Yes, the statue work is quite good, although for some reason the faces don't quite come out..."

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover all looked at each other again. There was a reason for that. Did Persephone not even know who she was buying statues from?

 **(In a way, it's... gods out there,)**

"So you have somebody to blame, right?" All the other futures asked him. He nodded, and the gods tried to decide if they should be insulted or disappointed.

Leo was too busy checking over what he had built of his machine, to see what he still had to do since he was so rudely interrupted the night before and shuffled off to bed. His train of thought had been broken, and he was quite pleased to see it was almost done, just a few more parts...

Not much longer before he had a cappuccino machine that could double as a rocket launcher.

It would be awesome.

 **(because you have... things go wrong.)**

"Yeah, it is really nice. To know that there is actually someone out there messing with you, and you're not just having a bad day." Thalia said.

"Yeah, because in our case, we can usually go and beat them up to get them to stop." Percy agreed.

"Or find something to blackmail them with." Nico added.

Hazel and Jason looked at their siblings and cousin like they were all crazy, while the other Future Greeks looked like they were either in agreement or remembering one of the times the three were talking about. The past Greeks and Romans were wondering if they were going to be safe around these three. Frank and Hazel were wondering (again) if going to Alaska with this guy was a good idea after all.

The gods just looked like they weren't sure whether they should be scared or not.

 **(For instance, when... attacked by monster hags)**

Hades frowned at hearing how his Furies were described. They weren't hags. Sure, they hadn't exactly aged well, but...

"I've walked away from several buses, and a few cars, after being attacked by monster hags now. Especially the last few weeks." Percy said with a shrug. Those Gorgons had not given up. Of course, now he actually remembered what they had been talking about whenever they accused him of killing their sister.

 **(and blown up by... just really bad luck;)**

"Most people don't have gods looking over their shoulders making assumptions and getting offended over the smallest things." Percy muttered just loud enough for the other demigods to hear him.

Dakota snorted and took another sip of his kool-aid. "I think that just comes with the territory of being a demigod, man." He said, somewhat bitterly, making the Romans and Percy (except Reyna and Jason) look at him, surprised. First off, he was being really calm, second, they'd never heard him sound like that before. He usually had a sugar-high way of speaking. What they didn't know, was that he drank so much sugar on a regular basis, that it had almost no affect on him anymore, but he still acted like it did to throw them off. Also, Reyna and Jason only knew the extent of his past because they were his Praetor's. It was their job to know when something happened in the past that still affected their soldiers.

 **(when you're a half-blood,... mess up your day.)**

"Not always when your a half-blood, though." Jason muttered to Leo and Piper, he was thinking of the mess they walked into at Aeolus's castle. How he changed the weather on the others whims because so-and-so was mad at this region, or they didn't want that region to have nice weather just because they were mad at the one requesting it. It had been madness. They nodded in agreement, knowing what he was thinking about.

 **(So there we were... reeking in our noses.)**

Percy muttered something about giving the Hudson another sand-dollar, a whole one this time. Grover muttered something back about being grateful he was human and didn't have as good a nose.

 _Grover_ was grimacing, he had been by the Hudson before, it was both disgusting and sickening just how much the humans polluted it. Not to mention the smell!

 **(Grover was shivering... and full of terror.)**

A few people winced. They didn't usually see Grover like that. Since meeting Percy, he had found a confidence that many had no idea he could be capable of. How did the goat go from this, to the person who turned a Titan into an Oak tree? Just what did they get up to on their quests?

 _Grover_ turned red when everyone heard about his older self's breakdown. He may not think very highly of himself or be very strong, but he was still male and he didn't want people seeing him this weak. Grover just grimaced at hearing how he used to be.

 **("Three Kindly Ones. All three at once.")**

"You really don't have the best of luck, do you?" Katie and Gwen both asked. Katie had been suspiciously observing the Stoll brothers, but now she looked over at Percy in amazement.

"No, not really. It mostly depends on the circumstances, though." Percy answered with a shrug. The others looked at him while Annabeth laughed.

 **(I was pretty much... still rang in my ears.)**

"Yeah, that was painful." Grover muttered.

Percy and Annabeth looked sympathetic, they were glad they didn't have his sense of hearing sometimes, while other times they wished they did.

 **(But Annabeth kept... we get, the better.")**

"Good thinking." The Hermes crew said.

"Yeah, except they still have to worry about Zeus zapping them." Somebody muttered. Zeus sent a minor glare at them.

"Yeah, but they're away from the site of the monster attack. And with the rain, it will make it harder for any backup to track their scents." Thalia said to the group. Zoe, Artemis, and Apollo nodded in agreement. Since they were the hunters in the group, they were good at tracking.

 **("All our money was back there,")**

"Which can be problematic when it comes to finding a new way west." Will said.

"Well, they could always hitch-hike if they have to."

"Not with Gabe plastering Percy's picture all over New York. Maybe if they were further away from the city... Either way, they are going to have to either, ah, _borrow_ , some transportation, or find a way to get new bus tickets or even find a train station." Jason disagreed.

"Don't worry, we found a way." Percy said, with a grimace. He still couldn't believe they had to rely on a _poodle_ of all things, not only that, but a _pink_ poodle. That had to be a crime against canine's, having a pink, _male_ dog... and the dogs name! What were those owners thinking?

Grover smirked at him, remembering how he made Percy say hi to Gladiola.

 **(I reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything.")**

"Which is why you don't ever take your bags off your person. And you don't leave your money in your bag, either." Annabeth said, adding the last part as an afterthought.

"Yeah, keep your money in your pocket if you have one, if not... then hide it in your shoe if you have to." Percy said in agreement. He was thinking of a movie he'd seen when he said that, if he remembered right, it was called... _The Polar Express._ Yeah, that was it, he used to watch it all the time on Christmas with his mom and sister, until Gabe came into their lives.

"Eew, but then it would get all sweaty and gross." Annabeth said with a grimace.

"Yeah, but at least you would still have it." Clarisse said with a shrug. Annabeth grimaced again, but nodded her agreement.

 **("Well, maybe if... into the fight-")**

"What was he supposed to do?"

"Watch you get yourself killed?" The Stolls piped in from where they had been sitting quietly (which was setting a few people on edge).

Katie and both Lukes had been seen eyeing both sets of Stolls suspiciously, trying to figure out what they were up to.

Annabeth blushed, since that was the almost the exact same thing Percy had asked her at the time.

 **("What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?")**

The Stolls high-fived each other with stupid grins on their faces.

"Hey, guys," Percy finally called over to them.

"Yes?" They asked.

Percy hesitated for a moment, studying their faces, before he spoke. "Don't cause damage and nothing that lasts too long." He finally said, warning them with his eyes not to try and disobey him on this.

They pouted for a moment, before they reluctantly promised not to, Percy was really the only one they would listen to, after all. Percy nodded and turned his attention back to the book, already knowing to keep an eye out for whenever they unleashed their idea. Everyone else started twitching with nerves, something which made the Percy's, and Stoll brothers eyes gleam. They could taste the fear...

 **("You didn't need to protect me, Percy.)**

"Maybe I didn't _need_ to, but I did anyway." Percy said quietly to Annabeth, who smiled and leaned into him more.

"Thank you." She said just as quietly. He grinned down at her.

Sally smiled softly as she watched their interactions. This is what she'd been missing for the past few months. She missed her son.

 **(I would've been fine.")**

"You would have been taking the shortcut to the Underworld, but fine." Nico corrected. Grover and Percy snorted while Annabeth turned a little red again.

 **("Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine.")**

Nico cocked his head, "Close enough." He said with a shrug. Everybody laughed.

 **("Shut up, goat boy," said Annabeth.)**

"'M not a goat boy." Grover grumbled half-heartedly. It had been Thalia that started calling him that, back when he first found them on the streets. At first, he really hated being called that, but after she was turned into a tree, he wished she was still around to call him that, and when Annabeth called him that, he remembered how that was Thalia's name for him. When she came back and started calling him that again, his usual reminders that he wasn't a goat-boy were half-hearted at best.

He'd been too happy to have her back.

 **(Grover brayed mournfully... bag of tin cans.")**

Percy reached over to give Grover a sympathetic pat on the back, while both Grovers looked like they were taking a moment of silence for the sacrificed tin cans.

"The food will always be mourned."

"And appreciated for its noble sacrifice." The Stolls said solemnly. The Grovers graciously thanked them for their kind words.

Everyone else either stared at the five of them like they were growing extra heads, or started laughing at them.

 **(We sloshed across... like sour laundry.)**

"And that's only what my human nose can smell..." Percy muttered, glancing at Grover sympathetically. Grover huffed, but rubbed his nose, he swore he could smell it again.

 **(After a few minutes, Annabeth... That was really brave.")**

Poseidon and a few others nodded in approval. She could swallow her pride, good. Not many demigods could do that, especially not children of Athena or Zeus. Plus a few others, but those two were the main ones.

Despite what many might think, pride was actually the number one demigod killer, not monsters. When a demigod was too proud to ask for help when they needed, or too proud to thank somebody for their help afterwards, resulting in the other demigod eventually having the attitude of 'if they don't want help, then I won't give it to them.'

Of course, demigods always stuck together. But there were times when they just wanted nothing to do with each other. And being ungrateful would get you on that list of people nobody wanted anything to do with.

"I wasn't trying to be brave, I was trying to help my friends out." Percy muttered.

 **("We're a team, right?")**

"Dang right we're a team." Percy and Annabeth said proudly.

"You're the best team." Thalia said, with a slight grin.

"There isn't anything the two of them can't come out of."

"As long as they are together." Travis and Connor said cheerfully.

Nobody noticed two of the MS wince in their corner. Except for Sally, anyway. She narrowed her eyes, worried, when she saw the two she knew to be **Annabeth** and **Percy** wince. What happened? The one she knew to be **Frank** reached over and clapped the two of them on the shoulder gently in support. Whatever the Stolls said, brought up bad memories. She decided to wait until they actually got that far in the books, where she knew what happened, before she got too concerned.

 **(She was silent for... to see the real world.")**

Everyone was silent. "You know, Annabeth..." Thalia started, trying to hide her amusement.

"You should have stuck with the 'thank you'." Luke finished, he wasn't even trying to hide it.

Annabeth turned red. "I... you guys know how I can be... I wasn't using him, honestly." She hurried to reassure the parents.

"Yeah, you kind of were." Percy said, trying not to laugh. "But that's ok, I can understand going cabin-crazy." He assured her. She smiled sheepishly at him. Poseidon just raised an eyebrow at her. He wasn't so sure he liked her using his son like that. He didn't say anything though, he knew there were plenty of times where Amphitrite used him in almost the exact same way Annabeth was using Percy at the beginning of this quest.

 **(The thunderstorm had finally let up.)**

Poseidon nodded absently. That meant Zeus's attention had finally gone somewhere else for the time being. Either that, or Hestia had finally gotten him to knock it off before he flooded Hudson and killed a lot of people. Either way, he wasn't focused on Percy anymore.

That was a good thing.

Right?

 **(The city glow faded... almost total darkness.)**

"It was strange. I'd never been without the lights of the city before. I'd never seen such darkness." Percy said. "Even in camp, there were still the lights from the court's fire pit, and the porch lights from all the cabins plus the Big House."

A few of the others who grew up in the city nodded in agreement with him. While those who grew up out in the countryside, where there were no city lights, looked at them in amusement. They had been unable to sleep for a while when they first arrived, because of the constant lights.

 **(I couldn't see... of her blond hair.)**

"Couldn't see anything." Percy grumbled, rubbing his nose as he remembered that tree he ran into. It was very dark out... he wasn't used to such darkness! Annabeth tried to hide a smile while she patted him on the shoulder, but everyone except Percy noticed it.

 **("You haven't left... seven?" I asked her.)**

Sally frowned. She knew the story behind Annabeth leaving home, and, while she was angry at Annabeth's father and step-mother, she also knew that things were better between them. But still, to run away when your only seven...

There's also the fact that there wouldn't have been very many other children her age around camp. If she remembered right, the youngest they usually got was around ten to twelve. That was when the demigods scent started becoming strong enough for monsters to find them. Usually, it depended on the demigod, and who their parent was. But, ten to twelve year olds don't usually want to hang around with a seven year old. She wouldn't have had anybody to play with when she wasn't training.

She sighed and waved off her men when the five of them (three Percy's, one Paul, and one Poseidon) looked at her in concern. Mentally, though, she was thinking of starting some kind of program for the younger demigods who lived at camp... she already offered her home as a safe-house whenever a demigod was in New York and needed somewhere to stay the night or medical attention and couldn't wait until they made it to camp. Why not offer her home to the younger ones who had nowhere else to go too? At least during the school year, that way they wouldn't be stuck in camp all the time... and have a chance to make some friends outside the Greek world.

 **("No... only short field...** **"The history professor.")**

"What kind of history?" Frank asked, "Like, what's the time period he focuses on, or topic... whatever." His face was slightly red.

Annabeth smiled at him, though. "Well, mostly military history, he's been kind of obsessed with World War two for a while now, though. I think he used to teach a class at West Point, but..." She shrugged. "He said that when I showed up on his doorstep, he didn't have time for both West Point and me, so..."

"So he stopped teaching there to raise you." Hestia finished with a small smile. She knew what happened between Annabeth and her father, and she hated it. The two had been very close, once Frederick accepted that he had a daughter and figured out what he was supposed to do with her. But, they were talking now, so that was good. This was further proof in her mind that, Fredrick loved Annabeth more than anything else, which is what a family should do. West Point was a very good job, for him to give that up...

Annabeth smiled at her and nodded.

 **("Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home.)**

"Unfortunately, it doesn't work out at home for far too many of our children." Hestia murmured, moving to sit next to Sally. She wanted to run a few ideas past the mortal, she was also considering giving Sally her blessing, this woman knew what the home really was. It wasn't just a house. Hestia was the goddess of the Home and Hearth. The home, where families lived, where children grew up; and the hearth, where families gathered around to enjoy each others company.

Many people tended to forget that, through her two domains, she was also the goddess of family. Hera could brag about it all she wanted, her domain was marriage, not the family itself. Sally Jackson (Blofis, now) embodied everything Hestia prized most. That was very rare in the world now.

Sally nodded and turned to her. "I wish there was something more that could be done, aside from sending out a satyr and hoping they make it to camp in one piece." She said. Hestia smiled at her.

"We'll have to discuss ideas later on, my dear." She said.

 **(I mean, Camp Half-Blood... camp you train and train.)**

"What about being a child?" Sally asked quietly, and sadly. She knew that these kids had to be trained in order to survive, but to do nothing but train since you were seven? That wasn't a proper childhood. Paul clearly shared her concern.

Chiron shifted on his hooves. "I do try to give the younger children as much free time as possible, where they can just be children, but that is not always possible, they do need to know how to fight and defend themselves if they want to survive outside of camp." He reassured Sally and Paul, who also looked concerned.

Hestia spoke up quietly. "Every once in a while, I will join some of the children in a game of tag around the cabins. Or, some of the naiad's invite them for a game of hide-and-seek. We try to let them be children as well." The demigods looked at her, they hadn't known that she joined in their games. Although... they supposed that there were a few times where one of the players seemed a little too wise to be a kid like they were.

 **(And that's all cool... any good or not.")**

Annabeth sighed. "I take it back, I would much rather stay at camp and forget about the real world outside." She said. The other future Greeks all nodded in agreement. That sounded like a good plan. Even Luke looked like he agreed.

At camp, all they had to worry about was the occasional monster that didn't feel like staying in the woods, but they didn't usually get very far before the wood nymphs and spirits dragged them back in.

"Although, you are definitely good enough." Clarisse grunted. Percy smirked at her, and she snapped. "Even I can recognize and compliment skill, Prissy!" Percy's smirk changed into a smile and she narrowed her eyes.

 **(If I didn't know any... doubt in her voice.)**

Annabeth sighed again and grumbled about observant sons of Poseidon. Percy smirked while Grover laughed.

Amphitrite rolled her eyes to the side to look at her husband, she remembered saying something similar back when she first met him, before they got married.

 **("You're pretty good with that knife," I said.)**

Everybody who ever sparred with her in the sword ring grimaced and nodded their agreement. When fighting her, one did not, under any circumstances let her get closer than their arms could reach. Reyna saw it and looked at Annabeth thoughtfully. Maybe the girl would be a good spar partner while they were here.

 **("You think so?")**

"I know so." Percy whispered in Annabeth's ear before kissing her temple. _Percy_ made a face behind his back, which made _Annabeth_ laugh.

 **("Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me.")**

Everyone groaned. There it was again.

"There you go again, saying the name. You do realize that if two of them weren't dead and the third probably in the middle of reporting back, you would have just told them exactly where we were and they would have come after us again. Without having to really search." Annabeth said, glaring slightly at her boyfriend.

Who just blinked at her slowly before he shrugged and pulled her into his side in a hug. She shook her head and silently asked Poseidon why she put up with him, only to hear a deep chuckle in her head. When she glanced up at the sea god, she saw him smiling at her. That same warm smile that Percy had. She smiled slightly back, feeling like she had just been accepted and approved.

"That was pretty cool though, seeing you on her back like that." Grover said with a smirk. She looked away from Poseidon to turn to the Satyr.

"Well of course it was, I was the one doing it." She said in the snobbiest voice she could muster.

Everyone laughed, dispelling the tension that had been building because of their current situation in the book.

 **(I couldn't really... she might've smiled.)**

"Smirked, more like." Both Lukes and Thalia muttered. Both Annabeths smiled innocently. They did not fall for it at all.

Percy tilted his head to the side and considered, before he nodded in agreement. He knew Annabeth better now, and now he could say that she would have been smirking.

 **("You know," she said...** **an owl being tortured.)**

Percy and Grover both froze, and glanced at Athena, who looked murderous. Then they frantically gestured for _Annabeth_ to keep reading, but before she could, Amphitrite asked Annabeth if she remembered what she had been about to say. The boys groaned silently and tried to pretend Athena wasn't trying to glare them to death. (It was actually kind of easy to do, Grover had seen worse glares when Percy was annoyed with somebody and Percy had seen worse from the Titans he'd fought.)

She blinked for a moment, trying to remember, then she said, "I think I was going to point out what Alecto had said about finding _it._ Not _him_." Amphitrite nodded, and gestured _Annabeth_ to keep reading before Athena tried to kill her stepson and his Satyr friend.

 **("Hey, my reed pipes still work!")**

Athena looked slightly mollified, she stopped glaring straight at them at least, when she heard that there were no owls involved in the making of that sound.

She was still glaring though.

 **(Grover cried. "If I...** **suspiciously like Hilary Duff.)**

"A lot of his songs sound like that, for some reason." Thalia muttered. Grover turned bright red.

"He went through a Hilary Duff phase after you turned into a tree. For a while, it was all he would play." Clarisse growled, glaring at Grover. She hated Hilary Duff! It had been so annoying. _Clarisse_ was glaring at _Grover,_ and both satyr's were cowering away from the girls.

Everyone else was trying not to laugh.

 **(Instead of finding a... knot on my head.)**

Percy grimaced and rubbed his head where he hit it all those years ago while everybody else laughed or winced in sympathy. They'd all done that at some point, mostly during Capture the Flag games when they were in a dark part of the woods.

 **(Add to the list of...have: infrared vision.)**

"No..." **Percy** started lowly, not that everyone knew who he was, "But... you can sense things, kinda like a bat does, using the water in the air." A few people started, they hadn't been expecting any of the MS to speak.

"How do you know that?" Athena asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

He shrugged. "I know a few sons of Poseidon..." He said cryptically. Not telling the others that _he_ was the son of Poseidon. Poseidon himself and Sally smirked slightly, while Percy looked considering. He hadn't even thought of trying that... he'd use a break or something and experiment with his powers.

Zeus got a worried look on his face, his paranoia rearing up. Just how powerful would this boy get? He had to make plans... the boy couldn't be allowed to get too powerful. He glanced towards his older brother, only to find Poseidon glaring at him, daring him to follow through on his thoughts. He narrowed his eyes and turned back to _Annabeth._

 **(After tripping and cursing... nymph-prepared barbecue.)**

"Perfect for the kind of training you have." Demeter said with a nod. "Although it could use more grains..." She said suggestively, looking at Dionysus with a small glare.

He sighed, annoyed. "I told you, their meals are fine as they are. The nymphs know what they are doing, and they all said that too many grains and not enough protein would not be good for the brats level of activity. Their words, not mine." He told her, not happy that she was bringing this up _again_. "The nymphs have their meals balanced as they should be."

Demeter started to speak again, when Hestia spoke up. "Demeter, leave it. Dionysus is in charge of the camp, which includes the meals. His decision is final." She, too, was tired of Demeter trying to force everyone to eat more grains. Demeter pouted at her older sister, but didn't say anything else.

"There is more variety than that though, isn't there?" Sally asked. Children needed variety in their lives, in her opinion it encouraged their imagination and creativity.

"Yes, there is some variety, but that is the main meal." Dionysus said, bored, while he sipped at his wine.

 **(This boy needed a double cheeseburger.)**

"That's another reason why I didn't really stick around camp for the year, and went to school instead. They don't have cheeseburgers!" Thalia said. She required her cheeseburgers.

"Yeah, you wouldn't survive long without a cheeseburger." Percy agreed. She nodded, very seriously, in agreement. The parents all looked at the two of them like they were growing extra heads while the demigods were trying not to laugh.

Everyone knew, that when Thalia, Nico, and Percy got together, you could expect to find them at the closest restaurant that sold cheeseburgers.

They all had their different food obsessions; Percy was anything baked by his mother (mostly her cookies) and pizza, Thalia was cheeseburgers, while Nico was Happy Meals from McDonald's and Sally's cake. They all learned years ago not to question it. They just knew that if they were together, to look in Sally's kitchen or the places that sold those foods first. If they were not there, then they had to wait for them to show up again, because they wouldn't be found.

 **(We kept walking... through the trees.)**

"Don't go there. It's a trap." Most of the demigods immediately said.

"Guys, this already happened."

They all looked at each other and sighed in defeat, before bracing themselves for what was about to happen, whatever that was.

 **(On the other side was a closed-down gas station,)**

"Trap." Percy raised an eyebrow at everybody.

 **(a tattered billboard... and one open business,)**

"Trap." Was said again. Percy and Annabeth blinked at everyone.

 **(which was the... the good smell.)**

"We know, its a trap." Percy, Annabeth, and Grover all chimed when those who spoke earlier went to open their mouths again.

"It did smell good, though." Percy muttered to Annabeth. She nodded in agreement.

 **(It wasn't a fast-food... and stuff like that.)**

"Those places still exist?" Sally asked, blinking in shock. Those were the kinds of places her uncle would always stop at the few times they went somewhere when she was younger. She never knew why, either, until one day he told her that whenever he would travel as a kid with his family, his parents always stopped there, and his sister (her mother) would always get a small carved grizzly.

Ever since then, he would stop and she would get a small carved grizzly of her own. She could barely remember her parents, but she still missed them.

"There are still a few around." Hermes said with a shrug. "Especially out west and around the Reserves."

 **(The main building... cursive neon English.)**

All the dyslexic demigods in the room groaned and nodded in agreement, a few of them muttering curses to the headache inducing letters, while a few others muttered about inconsiderate jerks. The parents looked at them wide-eyed. Was it really that bad for them?

"Just thinking about it gives me a headache." Clarisse said to her fellow dyslexic Greeks. They nodded in agreement. For some reason, none of the Romans seemed to have the same problem that the Greeks did. And it actually kind of ticked the Greeks off, if they really thought about it.

 **(To me, it looked... GOMEN MEPROUIM.)**

All the adults looked at _Annabeth_ with wide eyes. What on earth did she just say? Athena came over to see it and was alarmed, was this really what they saw when they tried to read? This was worse than she thought... she always thought that they could get it if they just tried harder... she knew that dyslexia was a problem for them, but she never really thought it was this bad.

She resolved to review the programs in place and different tools and methods that were out there for making it easier for dyslexic kids to read. This was horrible.

 **("What the heck does...** **she was dyslexic, too.)**

"Most of the books I read, though, are in Ancient Greek." Annabeth explained to the room with a shrug.

Thalia nodded, "It's much easier to read." She said in agreement.

 **(Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium.")**

Triton paled. "Aunty Em? Oh no, leave. Leave that place right now and don't look back." He instructed with wide eyes. He knew exactly who that was.

"Triton? What's wrong?" Poseidon asked, concerned.

"Aunty Em is what _she_ wanted me to call her, before she started getting all creepy and stalker on you." Triton told his father. "They're walking right into her trap."

"Oh no." Poseidon said, and looked at his son, concerned. He hadn't done enough back then to keep her away from him and his family, and then the whole thing with Athena turning her into what she was now...

Everyone was looking at the trio concerned, until Persephone gasped as she understood who they were talking about. "But that's where we get our statues from..." She said to Hades. She had always hated Medusa, and now that she knew Medusa was the one she was getting statues from... well, she would not be getting anymore of them.

 **(Flanking the entrance... cement garden gnomes,)**

"Ugh, nasty little creatures." Demeter and Persephone both muttered. They absolutely destroyed the garden if you didn't keep them out, they liked to tunnel underneath the soil, which could mess with the root systems of the plants depending on where they went. They also had a habit of taking off with gardening tools.

"Serves them right being statues." Demeter said louder.

Amphitrite hid a smile, she didn't have to deal with those things, her garden was under the sea, gnomes couldn't swim.

 **(ugly bearded little runts...** **smell of the hamburgers.)**

Poseidon groaned quietly, he was already under her spell. It would be difficult for him to get away now. He would say impossible, except that Percy looked so much like him, that it should give them a chance to get away. Annabeth was the only one he worried about making it out, she would not be merciful to the daughter of Athena.

 **("Hey..." Grover warned.)**

"You know, you two should really listen to me more often." Grover said with a slight pout. The two of them pouted (Percy) and scowled (Annabeth) before they sheepishly grinned at him, but neither said a word.

Everyone else happened to agree with the satyr though. They really didn't listen to him, ever.

 **("The lights are on... "Maybe it's open.")**

"Just what time was this?" Gwen suddenly asked. Percy and Annabeth shrugged. They didn't have a watch or something on them at the time.

"Well, it's dark, and its summer, so I would say it was after ten at least." _Luke_ said out loud.

"Right, what kind of place that isn't a fast food restaurant would be open after ten?" Gwen asked the trio who were on this quest.

"We were twelve, I hadn't been outside camp much since I was seven, and it had been a long day." Annabeth defended, Percy nodded beside her.

Gwen stared at them for a second before she said anything. "I will accept the excuse that you hadn't been out in the real world in a while before this, but not your age. Your training instructors would have taught you to be more careful about this kind of place, at least I hope they did," She said, pointing to Annabeth, "And your mother is amazing and would have taught you to be more careful than this." She said, pointing to Percy.

Everyone looked at Sally. She shrugged and nodded in agreement, that yes, she had taught him to be more careful than this.

 **("Snack bar," I said wistfully.**

 **"Snack bar," she agreed.)**

"And... those two are already under her spell." Poseidon muttered to Amphitrite. She looked at him in sympathy, he knew what it felt like to be under her spell, and even not remember what happened afterwards.

 **("Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird.")**

"Yeah, it kind of was..." Percy muttered.

"Yup, when Medusa was gone and we weren't under her influence anymore." Annabeth agreed.

 **(We ignored him.)**

"Isn't that one of the camp motto's?" Leo asked.

"Yup, listening to the satyr's..."

"...and the centaur are basic..."

"... for survival." The Stolls chimed in, finally coming out of their corner to join everyone else. Everyone else eyed them suspiciously.

Annabeth and Percy decided to ignore them and Grover's smug 'I told you so' look.

 **(The front lot was... cement children,)**

Sally gasped quietly, she had just started to realize who this was, but she was going to wait until it was confirmed, but if she was right... she even got children? She prayed that none of those children suffered at least, but still! To target children! Hestia glanced over and put a comforting hand on her knee.

"I hope that you didn't buy the children statues." She said sharply to her niece/sister-in-law.

Persephone looked at her for a second before slowly shaking her head, she hadn't bought any of the children statues, she hadn't liked how they looked so afraid, children should never look like that, she preferred watching children playing in the meadows during spring.

 **(even a cement satyr playing the pipes,)**

Hermes and Dionysus both stiffened. She had a Satyr? "Would you be able to do something about speeding up her 'rebirth', if something were to happen to her?" Hermes asked Hades. He was going to make sure she learned, you do not mess with his satyr's.

"I could... it would take some effort and quite a bit of power, but I could do it. Why?" Hades asked, watching his nephew carefully.

"She is going to learn that you don't mess with Satyr's, and I want to make sure that if I go too far then I can get her back quickly to start over again." Hermes said with a hard look.

"I will help you in that endeavor, brother." Dionysus raised his wine glass to his half-sibling, those were _his_ satyrs, she wasn't going to ever touch them again.

 **(which gave Grover...** **my Uncle Ferdinand!")**

Chiron and Dionysus flinched slightly, they liked Ferdinand, he'd been one of the best protectors they had. He had his searcher's license, of course, but he didn't go off on a search like most did. He still Searched, but he decided to search around his time when he was finding and protecting demigods. He was one of the best trainers they had back then, they had never found out what happened to him.

That was one of the reasons why the Council of Cloven Elders was so hard on him, they were expecting him to be just as great as his uncle, and then it never happened. Well, not yet... And now that they knew what happened to him, they were going to make her pay. They were going to make it very painful for her.

 **(We stopped at the..** **. "I smell monsters.")**

"Listen to Grover." Almost all the demigods yelled.

"Guys, years ago." Percy grumbled, but otherwise neither he nor Annabeth reacted.

 **("Your nose is clogged... Annabeth told him.)**

"They're never going to listen to him, are they?" Thalia asked rhetorically, they never listened to Grover, never. It was a wonder they were still alive, the number of times Grover warned them and they didn't listen, leading to them walking right into a trap of some kind.

"In this case, I'm afraid that it's not completely their fault." Apollo said to his half-sister.

"Yes, Medusa is almost as good as Circe when it comes to ensnaring people." Amphitrite said sourly. She really didn't like Medusa, what with all the trouble she caused them, not to mention all the stalking she did on Amphitrite's husband.

 **("All I smell is burgers.)**

"Some sorceress's use song, some use their looks, others use food." Amphitrite muttered.

 **(Aren't you hungry?"..** **. "I'm a vegetarian.")**

"Preach it!" Piper called out. The Grover's grinned at her.

 **("You eat cheese enchiladas... I reminded him.)**

"Those are vegetables!" Both Grovers defended themselves. Piper made a face, those weren't exactly what she would consider vegetables.

 **("Those are vegetables.)**

"See." The Grovers said, nodding importantly. He got a few laughs.

 **(Come on. Let's leave. These statues are... looking at me.")**

"It was very creepy." Percy agreed.

"Once we noticed them, anyway." Annabeth added.

 **(Then the door creaked... she was Middle Eastern,)**

"Close to that region, but try Greek." _Annabeth_ muttered. She had an idea of what was going on, based on all the statues and comments made by Poseidon.

Percy just raised his eyebrows at her, he was feeling oddly sentimental hearing her talk like that, his Annabeth still gave information out like that, but her tone no longer held that air of, 'you are an absolute idiot, why am I even bothering, your never going to understand it'. _Annabeth_ 's had.

 **(because she wore a... been a beautiful lady.)**

"Oh, she was very beautiful once upon a time." Poseidon said to his wife in agreement. "She was also very creepy and dangerous to underwater security." She nodded in agreement.

"Hey, if she was really beautiful once, then why did both her sisters say she was the ugliest of them?" Percy questioned Annabeth quietly, confused. He'd actually been wondering this since the chapter began.

"That was her true appearance, she used to have the ability to change her appearance at will, and she used to be able to control her powers to turn people to stone. It wasn't until after Athena cursed her, that she lost the ability to change her appearance, and to control her power." Annabeth answered just as quietly.

"So... basically, her powers were locked away, making her an even bigger monster than before." Percy deadpanned.

"...Yeah." Annabeth said, looking at him.

"... Do you think the Fates would mind if I attacked your mom right now?" Percy asked, staring at Athena.

 **(Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too.)**

"Greek." _Annabeth_ muttered.

 **(She said, "Children, it is..** **.**

 **"We're orphans," I said.)**

"You came up with that one pretty quick..." Sally said.

Both Percy's turned red. "We, ah... that was a favorite excuse of Lily's, whenever some adult wanted to call our parents to complain about us. Say we were orphans, and then when they were distracted with that, make a run for it." Percy muttered.

"Really? And just what would they be wanting to call to complain about?" Sally asked lightly.

"Our latest prank." Both boys said, unashamed. Their mother looked at them and sighed.

The Stolls looked at each other and grinned before they went back to planning. What they were planning, nobody wanted to know.

"It was kind of true for him, though, at the moment." _Percy_ muttered to Triton, laying down so his head was in his brothers lap and he was curled against his leg. A few of the girls 'awed' over how adorable it was. It was true though, Percy's father may have been alive, but it wasn't like he could really be with him, and he had just watched his mother die not a week earlier.

 **("Orphans?" the woman said...** **from our caravan,")**

People looked around and blinked in confusion, what caravan?

 **(I said. "Our circus caravan.)**

There was silence for a moment while people blinked at each other before slowly turning to look at Percy in confusion.

"Circus caravan?" _Annabeth_ muttered. Percy just looked at her, but didn't say anything. Triton looked at _Percy_ in concern when he tensed, and started running his fingers through his hair comfortingly.

 **(The ringmaster told us... Is that food I smell?")**

"Typical childish ramblings..."

"...of a lost...,

"...scared and lonely...,"

"...twelve year old, check." The Stolls said with a nod.

"Although, you almost blew it asking about food so abruptly at the end, there." _Luke_ added in.

The three got a pillow thrown at their heads for their troubles.

 **("Oh, my dears," the woman... please. There is a dining area.")**

"You gotta admit though, until she started with insisting on a picture, she played the part of an old granny pretty well." Percy said with a shrug. The others either looked at him like he was growing another head, or looked thoughtful while they tried to figure out who this was. Annabeth and Grover considered for a moment before they nodded in agreement.

 **(We thanked her and went inside.**

 **Annabeth muttered to me, "Circus caravan?")**

"Yeah, where did that one come from?" Annabeth finally asked. Everyone else perked up, they wanted to know, and Percy so far wasn't talking, but he never could deny Annabeth an answer unless it wasn't his secret to share.

Percy looked around before he sighed and shrugged. "Gabe used to threaten to sell us to the circus all the time. I think he had some connections somewhere... anyway, he was always saying we would be the main attraction for the magicians show where they saw people in half. I think I had Gabe on my mind, because of that poster we saw, so..." He shrugged again, trying to sound nonchalant, like Gabe's threats hadn't terrified him and his sister.

And promptly ignored how Gabe disappeared along with Poseidon and Sally.

This surprised those who didn't really know Sally. Yes, they saw her attack him earlier, but that was when he said something he really shouldn't have, they would have never thought that she would have it in her. But those people hadn't seen her at the Battle of Manhattan, fighting monsters. Those people didn't know that she would take on Kronos and Gaea together if it meant keeping her loved ones safe.

 **("Always have a strategy, right?"**

 **"Your head is full of kelp.")**

"No." Thalia suddenly yelled, pointing a finger at Annabeth. "That is my nickname for him, you have your own." She said seriously. Annabeth held her hands up in surrender, but smiled innocently.

"I don't know what your talking about, Thalia. I didn't say anything."

Thalia narrowed her eyes, "You came close enough. Like I said, you have your own nickname for him. He is my Kelp Headed cousin, while he is your Seaweed Brain."

"Wow, I'm feeling the love right now." Percy said dryly.

 **(The warehouse was filled with more statues-)**

"Just how many victims has she had over the years?" Rachel breathed in disbelief.

"I don't know how many were there, plus the ones she had sold off, but I bet the police would have a field day with that place, it would close so many missing persons cases." Annabeth said just as quietly.

 **(people in all different... expressions on their faces.)**

"The ones who didn't look afraid must have been mortals without the Sight. Those who were afraid are the ones who could see her true appearance. Demigods and mortals like Sally and Rachel, who can see through the Mist." Annabeth mused thoughtfully. Percy blinked at her, wondering where this was coming from. Grover shrugged.

 **(I was thinking you'd... even one of these statues,)**

Persephone scowled. Pretty huge just about described her garden, she had dozens of those statues. No more. She wasn't doing anymore business with _Medusa_. She hated that woman.

 **(because they were all... was thinking about food.)**

Most of the girls groaned while the boys all looked at each other and shrugged, because that was actually perfectly understandable.

" _Males_. They are such pigs." Zoe said in disgust. Artemis and Thalia nodded their agreement while some of the males in the room looked at her, offended, but not really willing to get into it with the immortal Huntress.

 **(Go ahead, call me an idiot)**

"You're an idiot." Everyone turned to him and said.

Percy pouted. "I didn't mean literally..." He muttered. Annabeth smiled at him and kissed him before leaning against him again and ignoring her mothers glare (directed solely at him). Poseidon and Sally returned just in time to hear them and they both hid grins.

 **(for walking into a... do impulsive stuff sometimes.)**

"Sometimes?" All the Greeks asked dryly.

"Cousin, try all the time." Thalia said, moving behind him and draping herself over his back.

"Oh, come on, like none of you ever do stupid stuff on impulse. Especially you, Thals." Percy scoffed, moving forward to dislodge his cousin, especially once he saw Artemis and Zoe glaring at him for her touching him like this.

"I am not nearly as impulsive as you are." Thalia retorted, moving forward with him to stay draped, he wasn't dislodging her that easily.

"Oh, so joining the Hunters as the lieutenant wasn't impulsive?" Percy asked, giving up on getting her off him so easily and working on moving her arms from around his neck.

"No, I'd been thinking about joining them during the entire flight to Olympus..."

"That wasn't very long to make such a big decision." Annabeth pointed out through her laughter.

"... and it wasn't like I was expecting her to just make me the lieutenant, I was expecting Phoebe or something to be put in charge." Thalia said with a shrug, ignoring Annabeth and everyone else who was laughing at the two of them.

"Nico, help me out here!" Percy whined to his younger cousin when he couldn't remove Thalia's arms. Nico shook his head, but shadow-traveled behind Thalia and grabbed her before shadow-traveling back to his seat, being careful to only take her with him. She pouted at him, but sat down without too much problems.

Zoe and Artemis seemed like they couldn't decide who to glare at the most for touching a Sister, Nico or Percy. They ignored the part where the three were cousins who acted more like siblings.

 **(Plus, you've never smelled... gas in the dentist's chair-)**

Sally started laughing about something while all three Percy's started grumbling and pouting, not that everyone could see the oldest Percy's reaction. Nobody could get her to calm down enough to tell them what was so funny, although they could guess it had to do with Percy's reaction to laughing gas during a dental visit.

 **(it made everything else go away.)**

"He's under a spell. Or drugged, either way, he's not getting out of there easily." Poseidon said with a sigh. That was how she got him into her bed that one time, he had wanted nothing to do with her before that. Sure, she was beautiful, but she was also really creepy. Luckily it never happened again, but it was enough for the twins to be born. Pegasus and Chrysaor. He never did find out how she found something that would influence him so completely.

Sally, who had calmed down by now, whimpered in worry and leaned into Paul when he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's not a spell through the Mist or anything, though, because you said the Mist either wouldn't affect him at all, or would do more than intended." _Annabeth_ asked with a slight frown.

"No, if I'm right about who this is... it's not through the Mist. Never through the Mist." Hermes said, seriously.

 **(I barely noticed Grover's... locked the door behind us.)**

"Oh, no." Sally whispered, Paul's arms were all that was keeping her seated, and not running over to grab her son and never let go. Mrs. O'Leary whined and licked her human on the head, putting her big head as close to being in his lap as possible.

Percy made a disgusted face before using his power over water to clean the slobber out of his hair before he started petting Mrs. O'Leary's head comfortingly.

 **(All I cared about was finding the dining area.)**

Artemis and Zoe snorted quietly. Of course, ignoring the knowledge of who this is and that the male was currently being controlled, that was so like men.

 **(And sure enough, there... a nacho cheese dispenser.)**

"Hmm, that sounds good." A few of the guys muttered.

Zoe looked at them incredulously, "We just ate breakfast! Males!" She grumbled.

Sally laughed good-naturedly, and a little hysterically, but this was a good distraction. Hestia shook her head, too, but made a table with snacks appear nearby. She knew that the boys would be fine, they would be more than able to eat a full lunch later on. They were teenage boys, after all.

Not only that, but they were DEMIGOD teenage boys.

 **(Everything you could... picnic tables out front.)**

"Those tables looked so good" Grover grumbled longingly. Percy and Annabeth gave him a strange look.

"I don't think you would want to eat those, Man, you don't know how many years worth of dirt, grease, and dust were on those things. They would have given you food poisoning." Percy told his friend, very seriously.

"I would have cleaned them off first." Grover defended himself.

 **("Please, sit down," Aunty Em...** **have any money, ma'am.")**

"You tried, dear." Hestia said with a slight smile. Poseidon grimaced, he tried, but unfortunately it wouldn't have worked. Grover sighed, he couldn't get Percy and Annabeth to listen to him and leave, so he tried to get the lady to kick them out since they couldn't pay.

It might have worked if it had been a mortal woman, in theory, she wouldn't have been able to afford to feed them, since she hadn't had business in a while. Hey, you never know with mortals sometimes, most of the ones he had seen would have kicked them out if they couldn't pay for the help in some way, it was rare for people to just do things out of the goodness of their hearts anymore.

 **(Before I could jab him... This is a special case, yes?)**

"Yeah, it's special alright, you have a child of Athena and Poseidon together." Gwen muttered, she was remembering how Percy was chased into Camp Jupiter by two Gorgons, and now they were in a warehouse surrounded by statues, one of which was a satyr.

Although, from what little she knew of the Greek side of things, to say Poseidon and Athena didn't get along was an understatement, and that generally bled down to their children. But, from what had been said in the reading, it sounded like the cause of that was a misunderstanding on Athena's part, and then her holding a grudge and refusing to let it go. There was probably other stuff that added to it, though, over the years.

 **(It is my treat, for...** **done something wrong,)**

"She did, she spoke." Poseidon muttered. Medusa certainly hated anything to do with Athena, and those grey eyes of Annabeth's would have told her everything she needed to know about Annabeth's parentage.

 **(but then the old woman... been my imagination.)**

"You are very observant." Ares said with a tilt to his head. "You shouldn't dismiss your observations so easily." He lectured.

Percy blinked at him, but nodded his agreement.

 **("Quite all right, Annabeth," she said.)**

 _Annabeth_ went silent and quickly reread some of the chapter. "You never gave her your names or said them within earshot of her." She said quietly, and everyone who had not yet guessed who this was based on Triton's conversation with Poseidon, paled.

Only the most dangerous of monsters usually knew your name like that. They had already guessed that this was a trap, and this woman a monster, but now...

 **("You have such beautiful...** **XXL servings of French Fries.)**

"It was so good." Percy moaned, slumping back in his seat dramatically.

Demeter looked disgusted. "All that fat! Grease! How can you eat something so unhealthy?!" She demanded.

"That's part of what..."

"...makes it so good!"

"All that greasy goodness!" The Stolls chimed in. She looked even more disgusted.

"It was the first thing I'd eaten in years that was so unhealthy." Annabeth confessed. "Yeah, there was the stuff Hermes cabin can bring in, but anything you ask them for has to be something easily hidden, you know?"

"Stuff the Hermes cabin brings in?" Demeter asked suspiciously. The Hermes kids all gave Annabeth a dirty look.

She saw them and glared back, "Oh, come on, it's not like Mr. D doesn't already know everytime you leave camp." They looked at their camp director warily, but he just raised his wine glass in a toast before looking at Demeter, challenging.

"I-" She started to scold, but was cut off.

"Demeter, let the children of Hermes be children of Hermes. We don't make your children stop being themselves, and stop gardening. Just leave them be." Hestia said firmly. Demeter opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again in a huff when Hestia raised an eyebrow. It wasn't often that Hestia used her authority over them as the eldest, but she was using it a lot since this reading began.

The children of Hermes sighed, relieved, when Demeter stopped trying to scold them.

 **(I was halfway through... I remembered to breathe.)**

A few of the girls looked disgusted, and Percy's eyes glazed over as he remembered that burger. It was honestly, at the time, the best thing he'd eaten in weeks.

 **(Annabeth slurped her shake.)**

"I hadn't had a shake in a while." Annabeth said, with a slightly dreamy look. She loved shakes, her and her father used to go out all the time and get shakes, those were some of her favorite memories, memories of a time before her stepmother came into the picture.

"You do love shakes." Percy said, slightly amused. Whenever they went out, she always got a shake, and it was always amusing to see how she could put those shakes away. He got a fist to his shoulder for his troubles.

 **(Grover picked at the... he might go for that,)**

Grover grumbled, "Perfectly good wax paper, and I was too nervous to properly enjoy it." He had eaten it, but he was too nervous to taste it properly.

 _Grover_ blinked, before his eyes glazed over at the thought of good quality wax paper. It was hard to come by, you could find wax paper anywhere, but some of it you wouldn't want to eat. It was kind of the difference between good milk, and sour milk. You really didn't want to drink/eat the bad stuff.

 **(but he still looked too...** **have keen ears, Grover.")**

Percy leaned over towards Luke. "Did you or _him_ happen to let any monsters on our route know we were coming? 'Cuz, I can understand her knowing Annabeth's name, that whole thing with Athena, but Grovers...?" He asked lowly.

Luke frowned, "I didn't contact any monsters, either on my own, or on _his_ orders. I did inform him when you set out and who went with you, he may have kept some of the more powerful monsters on your most likely route informed of your progress. I do know he wasn't happy when you killed Medusa. He had plans for her." He finished with a slight smirk. He had been worried sick when he found out that Annabeth and Grover had been anywhere near a monster like Medusa. He worried about Percy too... somewhat. He didn't know the kid long enough to really care that much, not over Grover and Annabeth.

Percy sat back, his face a strange mix of smug smirk, and troubled frown.

 **("I take vitamins. For my ears.")**

All the Hermes crew groaned. That excuse was terrible! "Are vitamin for ears even a thing?" Rachel asked Katie.

Katie just shrugged. "It wouldn't surprise me, they have stuff for just about anything these days." She said.

"Grover, I think you need..."

"... to learn the finer points of..."

"... excuse making."

"Just stick with us, we'll help you out." The Stolls were telling Grover.

"We expect to see you..."

"... every evening after reading..."

"... and before we get sent to bed." The _Stolls_ told _Grover._ They didn't even give him the 'option' that their older pair gave the older satyr. Both Grovers looked suitably scared.

 **("That's admirable," she said...** **her fingers and watched us eat.)**

"Creepy." Dakota singsonged a bit.

"Tell me about it." Grover, Percy, and Annabeth muttered.

 **(It was a little unsettling,)**

"At least you were still somewhat aware of what was going on." Grover muttered to himself. It frustrated him that they never listened to him when it really counted, and then asked his advice the rest of the time.

 **(having someone stare at... burger, and a little sleepy,)**

"She probably had something else in the food." Poseidon muttered to Amphitrite.

"She always was fairly close to Circe, dear." She reminded her husband.

He grimaced, "That is true."

 **(and I figured the least I... small talk with our hostess.)**

"Well, at least you remembered your manners." Sally mumbled, slumping against Paul. She knew something was wrong, and she thought she knew what, but she was denying it. Denial didn't stop her from being worried, though.

"Only Percy, could be in a dangerous situation, and still remember his manners." Thalia said, exasperated (and a touch fondly, not that she would ever admit it).

"It's not like I was completely aware, or that I knew it was a dangerous situation yet." Percy muttered.

 **("So, you sell gnomes," I said, trying to sound interested.)**

"You failed." Annabeth informed him. He gave her a dark look.

 **("Oh, yes," Aunty Em said... is very popular, you know.")**

"Hmm, I don't think it's actually that popular... is it?" Will asked Katie. He wasn't big on gardening, not like she was.

"Well, full sized like those would be... those can get pretty expensive, and you'd have to actually have the space for it. Small, animal statues, those can fit pretty much anywhere and they aren't too horribly expensive. So those do sell pretty well." Katie said with a shrug.

"It depends on what kind of garden you have. Flower gardens, statues would be welcome in them, if it was a vegetable garden, they might not be the best addition." Persephone added. "Of course, a mixed garden, further decorations would need to be done right so they're not overwhelming."

 **("A lot of business on this road?")**

"The amount of statues would suggest there was at some point, but the closed down gas station would suggest that the traffic is long since gone." Hermes muttered, to Athena's shock, since he just said something smart sounding. Hermes noticed her shock and scowled, when talking about traveling and the like, that was his area of expertise, of course he would know what he was talking about.

"Hm, it makes you wonder where most of her victims came from, that gas station looked like it had been closed for a while." Annabeth muttered to Percy.

"Well, she has been stationed there for a long time, and if she doesn't get many buyers, then it makes sense that they would all just sit there and collect." Percy said back, she tilted her head and considered before she nodded, he had a point.

 **("Not so much, no. Since...** **but it was just a statue)**

Hades and Persephone frowned. They were going to have to check the records, but... was there a possibility that her statues were still alive? They had never considered the possibility before... or course, it could also just be Percy's instincts trying to tell him that something was wrong.

Of course, there was also the fact that even if they were alive, they would have to figure out how to change them back from being statues. And, if they even should with some of them, they'd been statues for a long time, it might be kinder to let them stay statues than try to introduce them to a new time period.

"I hate that feeling." Most of the demigods muttered. The feeling that you were being watched was a demigods nightmare, most of the time they really were being watched, they just couldn't see the person, or in their case, monster. It only served to make them more paranoid than usual about being attacked.

 **(of a young girl holding an Easter basket.)**

"She must have been in the area with her family, celebrating Easter, and then stumbled on the warehouse during an egg hunt or something, only to be turned into a statue." Sally said, sad for the girl and for what her family must have gone through when she went missing (unless her family joined her as statues). She vaguely remembered going on Easter egg hunts with her own parents when she was younger.

Hestia reached over and put a comforting hand on her shoulder while Paul pulled her into a hug.

 **(The detail was incredible... most garden statues.)**

"Most garden statues weren't living, breathing people at one point in time." Percy muttered.

 **(But something was wrong... startled, or even terrified.)**

"She must have been able to see through the Mist, even just a little bit," Athena said thoughtfully. "Otherwise she would not be so terrified, she would have seen what Medusa really looks like."

"And whose fault is that?" Percy muttered to Annabeth, who hid her smile. Percy tried to get along with Athena, for her sake, but that didn't change the fact that he did NOT like her mother, not that she really blamed him, considering how Athena treated him.

 **("Ah," Aunty Em said sadly... to get right. Always the face.")**

"That's because the last thing they see is her ugly face." Percy muttered to Grover and Annabeth.

"When did you see her face?" Annabeth asked.

"Her sisters. While they were chasing me, they were always going on about how their mother always compared her to them, about how she could turn people to stone while they couldn't. That's when they told me they were the pretty ones in their family. If she was more hideous than her sisters, then I don't want to know what she looked like, her sisters were ugly enough." He said quietly. Both Annabeth and Grover made a face. "Although it makes a lot more sense now that I know her beauty was a cover."

"Either way, seeing something like that would be pretty terrifying. Especially if your not expecting it."

 **("You make these statues yourself?" I asked.)**

"I was actually pretty impressed, there were a lot of statues, and the thought that she made them all by herself... and the detail was amazing." Percy said with a shrug.

"Yeah, and then you learned how the statues were made." Annabeth challenged.

"Yeah, after that, the impressed thoughts turned into disgust and revulsion." Percy agreed with a nod.

 **("Oh, yes. Once upon a... help me in the business,)**

"She must have been production while they were management and customer service." Annabeth quipped, earning a laugh, at least.

 **(but they have passed on... help feeling sorry for her.)**

"And now?" Thalia asked, curious.

"Now, I could care less." Percy said with a shrug. Those who figured it out already smirked, while those who had no clue looked at Percy shocked.

Sure, they already knew that this was a monster, but that seemed cold-hearted, especially for Percy.

 **(Annabeth had stopped eating... and said, "Two sisters?")**

"I'd already suspected something was wrong, but that's when I started to realize who she was. Two sisters, statues, it started to click. How she knew my name..." Annabeth said with a shrug.

"And it's a good thing you did, too." _Percy_ muttered. He couldn't understand why his older self was acting this way, _he_ never took food from strangers, he knew better, he never even took food from Gabe (the occasional stolen piece of pizza didn't count). His older self was acting strangely trusting. He knew that his father said it was some kind of spell, but he couldn't understand how any spell could be this strong that it would cause such a personality switch.

 **("It's a terrible story,"... I had a... a boyfriend,)**

Poseidon shuddered at being called that woman's boyfriend. "I was not her boyfriend, more like her victim." He muttered, and Amphitrite patted his arm reassuringly.

 **(you know, and this... caused a terrible accident.)**

"It wasn't an accident," Athena said primly, she was actually quite proud of her punishment for Medusa. Although, she hadn't anticipated also 'turning off' her statue making ability. That part had caused a problem. She tried to ignore the part where she had just figured out who this could be, where others figured out a long time.

 **(My sisters stayed by me... passed on. They faded away.)**

"No they didn't. If they had faded, they wouldn't have been chasing me through California. I wonder why she thought they faded." Percy said, he was honestly confused about that.

"She must have thought they did." Annabeth said with a shrug. "Either she just hadn't heard from them in a while, or hadn't heard of them being killed. They were probably slow reformers." She finished reasonably. A few others nodded in agreement.

 **(I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price.")**

Those demigods who were there at the end of the Titan War, when Percy rejected the gods offer of immortality, all turned to him. He hadn't said it, but right before he refused their offer, he had looked at them, and looked thoughtful. Had he been imagining what it would be like to continue on while everyone he knew died? Knowing him, he'd probably been more affected by what all the immortal monsters/enemies over the years had said than any of them realized.

Hermes sat back in his throne and sighed. "It can be a burden sometimes, especially when you are a father and have to watch your children live and die." He murmured.

"We know where they go though, and we can always visit if we want, and if Hades allows it." Apollo said quietly in comfort. Hermes flashed a grateful smile at him.

"Is that why you turned down immortality?" Clarisse finally asked. She'd been wondering. The gods looked at him in shock, why would somebody turn down immortality?

Percy was quiet for a moment. "Mostly, partly... I had other reasons though." He said finally. The gods kept looking at him in shock, although Poseidon also looked proud. Sure, he was a little disappointed that he wouldn't have one of his sons with him over the centuries, but... then again, he could always keep the offer open, and hope Percy took it when he was older or something, or extend it to Annabeth... He thought he knew why Percy turned it down.

 **(I wasn't sure what she meant, but I felt bad for her.)**

"That's your heart, speaking." Annabeth said with a small smile.

"Maybe, but I don't feel sorry for her anymore. I stopped feeling sorry for her when we started fighting her and realized where the statues came from." Percy answered with a shrug.

 **(My eyelids kept getting... stomach making me sleepy.)**

"That's not good." Katie muttered.

"Yeah, the only time a demigod should ever really feel like that is in the safety of camp or their homes." Jason said in agreement. Others nodded in agreement with them.

 **(Poor old lady. Who would want to hurt somebody so nice?)**

"And now it's starting to be her influence speaking, along with Percy's heart." Poseidon grumbled. Angry that yet another of his sons was having to deal with her.

"Dear, it's alright. He's safe now." Amphitrite told him quietly.

"I should have hunted her down as soon as rumors started that she had reformed." He shot back, hearing about her was putting him in a bad mood, along with his worry for Percy.

"Well, you know where she is now, once this reading is done, we can go take care of it." She said.

"Done!" Leo exclaimed, completely missing the tension in the room. Eyes swung to him, where he stood proudly beside his creation. "A cappuccino machine that's also a rocket launcher." He smirked. Beckendorf and Hephaestus both raised their eyebrows at it and got up to go inspect it. Leo's eyes went wide when he saw THE Charles Beckendorf inspecting his creation and nodding in approval. All he ever heard about the guy was good, he was a living legend in Cabin Nine (well, dead legend now). According to his siblings, give Beckendorf a hunk of steel, and he could create a masterpiece. _And that legend, plus his dad, were approving of_ his _machine._

"This is pretty good... the drink comes out of here, until this button is pushed... perfect for both pranks and defense. Well, as long as its a prank rocket and not an actual one..." Beckendorf muttered to himself.

"It is very well made." Hephaestus said in agreement. Leo beamed and his machine was moved into a corner, where Hestia provided cups and everything else needed for drinks. She also made sure that none of it was going to make the demigods start bouncing off the walls of the palace... too much anyway. Although she also knew that some hyperactive kids actually calmed down with sugar.

 **("Percy?" Annabeth was shaking me to get my attention.)**

"Yes, try and keep his attention on you, it should help fight her influence." Poseidon said with a nod. Sally whimpered slightly, and Triton held onto his younger brother tighter.

 **("Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting.")**

"Yeah, get out of there!" Nearly everybody yelled. Percy leaned back and raised his hands slightly in defense. Annabeth and Grover looked at him pointedly, since it was kind of him keeping them there by this point.

 **(She sounded tense.)**

"I was starting to put the pieces together and working out who this could be. By this point, I knew she was a monster, I was just going through everything I knew before saying for sure that it was her. I wasn't quite sure at this point that it was her." Annabeth explained with a shrug.

 **(I wasn't sure why... paper off the tray now,)**

"By then, I was too nervous NOT to eat, but I was still nervous, so it didn't even taste right." Grover explained. He had always been a nervous eater.

"Well, it turned out alright." Annabeth said with a sigh.

"Yeah, somehow."

 **(but if Aunty Em found...** **Annabeth stood up abruptly.)**

"That's when I knew for sure who it was." Annabeth informed the room.

Athena's eyes gleamed in anger that Medusa would dare try to touch one of her children. "Don't let her lay her filthy hands on you." She sternly informed _Annabeth_ , who nodded her obedience.

 **("We really should go."..** **. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!")**

"I'm surprised that you both remembered your cover story like that." Clarisse said suddenly.

Annabeth and Grover looked at her, confused and a little insulted. When she noticed, she rolled her eyes and explained impatiently. "It's your first quest, and your first time really being in this kind of situation. Any situation you got into with Luke and Thalia when you were younger doesn't count." She said when she noticed Annabeth opening her mouth, she shut it with a click. "As I was saying, this is your first time really being in a situation like this, most people wouldn't remember the cover story they gave, and get all flustered, I'm surprised you kept your heads." She shrugged.

 **(I didn't want to leave...** **get to be with children.)**

"That makes her sound like a pedophile." Leo said with a raised eyebrow. When everyone gave him strange looks, he shrugged. "I used to live on the streets, you learn pretty quick how to spot that kind of person and avoid them." He ignored everyone's pitying looks and how his father frowned with a look of regret passing through his eyes, instead choosing to pull parts out of his tool belt and start building his next project.

He didn't know what he had in mind yet, his hands would make something. He absently set his hand on fire to weld some pieces together.

 **(Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?")**

"DON'T!" People yelled.

"Again, you people realize that this already happened?" Percy asked, holding his hands out. Everyone who yelled, looked at each other before shrugging.

 **("A pose?" Annabeth asked warily...** **see. Everyone loves children.")**

"Pedophile." Leo muttered. The way she was currently talking, was exactly the kind of talk he and the other street kids avoided like the plague. Well... except for the really desperate kids.

 **(Annabeth shifted her weight...** **who'd just fed us for free.)**

"Well, he has a point about the 'fed for free' bit." Grover muttered to Annabeth.

Poseidon sighed, "He is under her complete control right now. It'll take a lot to get him out."

"If Annabeth and Grover can get his attention and keep it, he'll be fine." Amphitrite said.

"Besides, dad, he's right here." Triton reminded his dad. Poseidon frowned, but nodded.

 **("It's just a photo, Annabeth...** **woman purred. "No harm.")**

Leo shivered, bad memories coming up. He shoved them aside. Like he always did.

"When a monster tells you that there's 'no harm', you know that nothing good is going to happen." Piper said.

 **(I could tell Annabeth didn't... into the garden of statues.)**

"I only allowed it because I figured that it would be easier to escape once we were outside, and not locked in the warehouse with her." Annabeth said with a shrug.

Athena nodded. "Very good thinking. Always get to where you can retreat safely."

"You don't need to retreat, you need to kill her!" Ares exclaimed.

"This one is no normal monster. There is only one hero in all of history who has managed to defeat her, and even then, that was only because she was asleep!" Aphrodite reminded him. He just shrugged.

 **(Aunty Em directed us to a park bench next to the stone satyr.)**

Hermes and Dionysus scowled, while Chiron frowned.

 **("Now," she said, "I'll... gentlemen on either side.")**

"She's putting the strategist in the middle, and the fighters on the outside. Not exactly the best choice. I would have put the boy on the inside, with Annabeth and the satyr on the outside. It would be harder for him to maneuver." Athena said with a frown. Sally turned to glare at her, this was not the time to be poking holes in this monsters strategy!

"I don't think she really cared at the moment about that. She was probably thinking more about making it easier on herself later on when she went to move them." Aphrodite said with a small frown and a shrug.

"Whatever she was thinking, can we keep reading? We're getting so close to the action!" Ares exclaimed. And then promptly cowered back into his throne when Sally's glare turned on him. That woman could be scary...

 **("Not much light for...** **camera?" Grover asked.)**

"Yes, get his attention off of her..." Poseidon muttered. Sally leaned more into Paul and went back to what she was doing before Athena and Ares decided to open their big mouths, and that was to watch Percy like a hawk to reassure herself that he was indeed all right.

Although it was kind of hard to see him with Mrs. O'Leary's head in the way.

"He's asking all the right questions." Will nodded in approval.

 **(Aunty Em stepped back,...** **look like Uncle Ferdinand.")**

Chiron's and Dionysus's eyes darkened, and Hermes scowl deepened at the reminder, then he started writing up a list of everything he wanted to do to her. He would coordinate with Dionysus and Poseidon later.

 **("Grover," Aunty Em chastised,...** **her hands.**

 **"Percy-" Annabeth said.)**

"Hurry up, get his attention..." Triton muttered under his breath while his arms tightened around his little brother. He loosened his arms, apologizing, a moment later when _Percy_ gasped and hit his forearm a few times. They didn't have much time left to get away before Medusa lifted that veil of hers.

 **(Some instinct warned me to listen to Annabeth,)**

"YES!" A few people yelled out.

"That's good, do what you always do." Thalia encouraged.

"And follow your instincts." Nico followed up. He hadn't known any of this stuff.

 **(but I was fighting the... and the old lady's voice.)**

Poseidon groaned. "Her hold on him is still too strong." He said, shaking his head. The tension rocketed up even more.

Luke had a feeling, that if he hadn't already seen Iris-Message recordings of this, he would be losing it right now. He tilted his head to the side, and glanced at his younger self, his face was 'I've just seen a ghost' white and he was staring at Annabeth in horror. He pursed his lips, maybe there was hope yet.

He had never intended for Annabeth to be put in so much danger. He hadn't known they would be facing Medusa, or Echidna, or anything else they faced on this quest. He had never wanted Annabeth hurt. Naive thinking, maybe, considering they were on opposite sides of a war and all...

 **("I will just be a moment,"...** **wrong," Annabeth insisted.)**

"Come on, come on." Poseidon muttered, wishing that Percy would snap out of it already. He was grateful for Annabeth for trying though. But, children of his were stubborn and strong willed.

Which made it even more amazing that _she_ could affect him like this.

 **("Wrong?" Aunty Em said... What could be wrong?")**

"Everything."

"Especially the 'noble company' part. Annabeth I could understand, but Percy?" Percy glared at his cousins.

 **("That _is_ Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped.)**

Piper reached over and squeezed his shoulder. He gave her a grateful smile.

Sally bit her lip so hard that Paul had to reach over and pry her mouth open slightly so she wouldn't bite through it.

 **("Look away from her!" Annabeth... me both off the bench.)**

Artemis, Zoe, and Athena nodded in approval of her rough treatment, while both boys grumbled and mock glared.

She looked back at them innocently, "You weren't moving fast enough." She said simply.

"Of course not. He was probably staring at her with a stupid look on his sea spawn face." Athena grumbled.

 **(I was on the ground, looking at Aunt Em's sandaled feet.)**

"On the one hand, you are in a position where you can't see her, therefore can't be turned into a statue, on the other hand... that's not exactly out of the danger-zone." Clarisse said thoughtfully. The danger-zone was what the demigods termed as the area within the monsters immediate reach, where you had better have a weapon in your hand if you want to survive being there. Being right at the monsters feet on the ground was definitely within the zone.

Annabeth shrugged. "I was more concerned at that second about making sure the boys didn't look into her eyes. I didn't really pay much attention to where they fell when I pushed them." She said somewhat embarrassed.

"Situational awareness." _Luke_ muttered somewhat sternly, eyeing both Annabeth's. He knew that he and Thalia had taught her that. Both girls blushed slightly.

 **(I could hear Grover scrambling... I was too dazed to move.)**

"Get it together! There's an enemy there!" Ares yelled in disbelief, staring at Percy.

"It's a combination of being pushed by Annabeth, and fighting her influence." Jason said thoughtfully, because from what he'd seen so far, Percy didn't stay down for long, and there didn't seem to be a whole lot that could daze him.

Ares shot his younger Roman half-brother a glare, but didn't say anything when he caught Poseidon's glare.

 **(Then I heard a strange... bronze talons for fingernails.)**

"Don't look higher... Don't look higher..." Poseidon and Sally both chanted under their breaths. Sally was beginning to get out of her denial, but it was still holding strong. She would wait until she knew for POSITIVE, before she really lost it.

Ares was practically vibrating in his seat, it had taken so long for them to get in a bit of action in these books.

 **(I almost looked higher,... screamed, "No! Don't!")**

"Thank you." Poseidon breathed. Sally nodded from her spot wedged between Hestia and Paul.

 **(More rasping- the sound...** **-start his flying sneakers.)**

"What are you planning, goat boy?" Thalia asked him, curiously.

He just grinned at her and put his finger to his lips. She pouted at him, (and if anybody ever said that she did, she would electrocute them) but he didn't say anything.

 **(I couldn't move. I stared... old woman had put me in.)**

"Good, he's strong willed." Poseidon muttered.

 **("Such a pity to destroy... have to do is look up.")**

"DON'T!"

"Guys, sitting right here, so clearly I didn't." Percy said with a wave to the rest of the room. The tension was so thick he was starting to doubt whether or not Riptide could even cut through it.

 **(I fought the urge to obey... moving, writhing like serpents.)**

Percy shuddered at the memory of what she looked like. What little he had seen of her had been truly hideous.

A few others shuddered too, and a few finally figured out who this was. They all looked at Percy in horror, all of them wondering how on earth he survived this.

 **(Aunty Em.**

 **Aunty "M.")**

"Yes, we got that part, stop repeating yourself, girl." Zeus snapped impatiently.

 _Annabeth_ looked up, startled. "Um, that's what is written. Um, the first time it's written, 'E, M'. The second is just the letter 'm' in quotation marks." She explained, eyeing the King wearily.

He frowned and sat back, trying to think of who on earth this could be. The description sounded familiar, especially if the first letter of her name was 'm'. He motioned impatiently for _Annabeth_ to start reading again, ignoring everyone's glares for being so rude to the girl.

 **(How could I have been so stupid?)**

"Don't. You. Dare. Answer that." Percy said slowly, glaring at his cousins. Both Nico and Thalia closed their mouths with a snap and tried to look innocent. Needless to say, it didn't work.

 **(Think, I told myself. How did Medusa die in the myth?)**

"MEDUSA?! YOU HAD TO FIGHT HER RIGHT AWAY?!" Sally yelled, finally coming out of her denial. She hadn't known how or when he came into possession of Medusa's head, she only knew he got it. But she had always thought, hoped really, that he faced Medusa later on in the quest, after he got a chance to figure out what was going on. After he had a chance to find his feet. She'd been denying her own thoughts this whole time about who Aunty Em was.

Percy looked at her in concern, biting his lip.

Athena scoffed, of course he didn't even know this.

 **(But I couldn't think... attacked by my namesake, Perseus.)**

Athena would have gaped if it wasn't so undignified. Then again, it was his namesake, his mother probably made sure he knew his stories. She reassured herself that he was still a sea-spawn and therefore stupid on principle.

Sally sucked in a breath, but then started shaking her head, she did not want her son facing Medusa, not this soon in the quest, and not so soon after being attacked by the three Furies! Paul pulled her tighter against him and started whispering in her ear.

 **(She wasn't anywhere near... now and rake open my face.)**

"She won't." Poseidon said quietly. "You look too much like me for her to do that. She's never gotten over her obsession with me."

"As much as I hate it, that obsession seems to be a good thing right now, it is keeping your son alive." Amphitrite said just as quietly. Percy flashed his father and step-mother a quick smile before going back to looking at his mother with concern and apprehension.

 **("The Gray-Eyed One did... a beautiful woman into this.")**

"Not according to your sisters." Percy muttered, before he shuddered again remembering what they looked like.

A few people turned to glare at Athena when they were reminded that she was the one responsible for the creation of Medusa. She may have been born with her powers, but she at least used to be able to turn it off.

When Athena noticed, she sniffed, "Then she should have thought twice before meeting up with HIM," She pointed to Poseidon. "In MY temple."

"Oh my..." Poseidon groaned. "Again, we did not meet up there! I ducked in there to get away from her!" He exclaimed. She just narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a look that clearly said she did not believe him. Which only made him angrier, he'd been trying to tell her this for centuries, he was honestly proud of himself for not killing her and forcing her spend the next few centuries reforming, years ago. He was certainly mad enough to 'accidentally' do it.

Aphrodite, Amphitrite, and Persephone stared at her in disbelief. Did she not feel the slightest bit guilty that her actions were now putting her daughter in danger?

 **("Don't listen to her!"... the statuary. "Run, Percy!")**

"Yes, run."

"Guys, already happened.' Percy wondered how much he would have to remind them of that fact during these books.

 **("Silence!" Medusa snarled... must destroy the girl, Percy.)**

Athena stiffened. What?

 **(She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust.)**

"No!" Athena burst out, her eyes slightly wide.

"I think she's finally starting to get it." Apollo muttered to Hermes. Maybe now Athena would be knocked down a few pegs when she heard first hand, from her own kids (sort of), how some of her rash actions affected them. Now, if Annabeth and Percy ended up fighting Arachne at some point, it might really get it through to her.

They'd been trying to get it in her head for centuries that she was not always right, and that many of the actions she took out of pride would have large negative impacts on the world.

Hermes glanced at her, considered for a moment, and turned back to Apollo, "I'll reserve judgement."

 **(But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer.")**

Percy made a face. He'd heard that too many times.

 **("No." I muttered. I tried... this foolish quest, Percy?)**

"Not a clue." Percy muttered.

 **(What will happen if you reach the Underworld?)**

"Not what we were expecting." Annabeth shook her head. Grover nodded in agreement to the both of them. Some of the adults looked concerned, although Zeus was more concerned for the safety of his Bolt.

"Enough talking, get to the action already." Ares groused. He got a few glares for his trouble.

 **(Do not be a pawn of... Less pain. Less pain.")**

"What is with monsters or other gods and offering me a way out that would be less painful?" Percy muttered. He was always getting that offer. From Medusa, from countless other monsters over the years, Calypso, the Gorgons, Juno the hippie lady... Did they all know something about his future? Or were they just trying to get him out of the way because they knew he would mess up his plans?

Or was he thinking about this too much?

 **("Percy!" Behind me, I... hummingbird in a nosedive.)**

"You are very descriptive, you know that?" Piper asked Percy randomly. He raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

"Although, I didn't write this, the Fates did. I think..." He reminded everyone.

She shrugged. "Maybe so, but they used your thoughts at the time and your memories." Percy scowled, but nodded to show that she had a point.

"That is a very big hummingbird, though." Apollo muttered to Hermes, who raised an eyebrow, but nodded. Any distraction and attempt at lightening the tension was welcome, after all.

 **(Grover yelled, "Duck!"... the size of a baseball bat.)**

Thalia's eyes widened when she figured out Grover's plan. "Oh yeah!" She cheered. "And this, right here, is why you are our favorite goat boy." She said happily, patting Grover on the back. _Grover_ could only stare at his older self in shock as everyone else congratulated him on both coming up with such an idea and being brave enough to carry it out.

"Where did such a big branch even come from?" A random person muttered, but nobody could tell who exactly said it.

Grover shrugged though, "I found it among the statues."

 **(His eyes were shut tight... by ears and nose alone.)**

Apollo whistled lowly. "That would take some serious skill." He commented. Artemis reluctantly agreed.

She was reluctant because she knew full well about the blatant hero worship the Satyr's all had for her, and she did NOT want to encourage them. At all. Ever. The less encouragement the Satyr's received, the better.

 **("Duck!" he yelled again... miss Medusa and nail me.)**

"Hey!" Both Grovers protested.

Percy gave them an innocent look and shrugged apologetically. "Remember that time we were outside playing baseball at Yancy? When you sent me to the nurse's office with a bad concussion?" He reminded his friend.

Grover looked slightly confused. "I'm guessing this happened after we came back from Christmas break..." He said, while sinking down into his seat slightly while the others laughed. Percy glanced at him and nodded.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, though. I healed up quick enough." He told _Grover_ dismissively, still looking at Grover, who was redder than a strawberry.

"You said you were never going to bring that up again!" Grover hissed.

Percy tilted his head innocently. "I don't remember saying that." Grover narrowed his eyes at his best friend, but didn't say anything else.

 **(I dove to one side.**

 _ **Thwack!)**_

"Wha-" People started to ask, but _Annabeth_ shushed them with a glare, having read a little bit ahead, she wanted them to hear all about how amazing her satyr friend could be. They shot her a dirty look, they'd just been concerned about whether or not Grover actually got her, or if something else happened.

 **(At first I figured it was the sound of Grover hitting a tree.)**

People were concerned, was it? Was Grover ok?

 **(Then Medusa roared with rage.)**

People cheered. "That's my goat boy!" Thalia called, proud of Grover, who turned red. _Grover_ stared at his older self in amazement. Was he really capable of that?

Zeus scowled, he hated that useless Satyr, about the only thing he was good for at the moment, in Zeus's mind, was keeping Percy alive so they could find his precious Bolt.

 **("You miserable satyr,"...** **Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back.)**

"You tell her, Grover!" Thalia cheered again, followed by everybody else. Grover just turned even redder, and Percy reached over and lightly punched him on the shoulder, grinning at him. Even Mrs. O'Leary barked happily and treated him to a short tongue bath.

 **(I scrambled away and... for another pass.**

 **Ker-whack!)**

There was some more cheering when _Annabeth_ read out, proudly, the sound affects of Grover hitting her again. Although people were wondering when Percy was going to step in, if they were going to step in, or if they were going to use this as a chance to get away.

After all, Medusa was powerful, they would not blame the questers for just getting out of there.

 **("Arrgh!" Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting.)**

"Oh, she's angry now." Poseidon muttered, worried. Triton and Percy both eyed him, they didn't want him panicking on them like he did the first day they read.

Percy glanced around with a worried frown, and then started monitoring everyone's breathing again, especially his mom's.

 **(Right next to me, Annabeth's...** **gnome. "Jeez! Don't do that!")**

That got a few chuckles out of the listening crowd, mostly from those who'd watched her do that on a regular basis to nearly everyone and anyone, but the tension was too thick for anything else.

 **(Annabeth took off her... have to cut her head off.")**

"Wait, why him? You're there, you have a blade, why can't you do it?" Poseidon burst out, wondering why it always had to be his sons. Whenever a situation came up, and one of his sons was nearby, they were the ones who had to deal with it, even if there were others capable of handling it nearby. That, and he really didn't want any of his family going anywhere near Medusa.

Never again.

Annabeth looked at him slightly apologetically, "I explained that to Percy at the time, sir." Poseidon frowned, but accepted it for now.

 **("What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here.")**

"That might be easier said than done." Reyna said with a wince. She knew from experience that monsters who have shown an interest in you, or that it's personal for, they never let you go.

You have to either kill or be killed in those situations, and Medusa has made this personal.

 **("Medusa is a menace...** **make a difficult admission.)**

Poseidon tilted his head to the side, was a daughter of Athena about to swallow her pride? He sat forward in his throne, maybe this one would be worthy of his son, after all.

Not that he would try and scare her off, it was obvious she made Percy happy after all, but still. He was allowed to have standards for his son.

 **("But you've got the better... You- you've got a chance.")**

"Good, you know when to swallow your pride. That's a good thing, it just might help you live longer." Triton said softly, before shooting a glare at Athena, he never had liked her, for reasons that not even Poseidon knew.

Poseidon sat back again and nodded, his approval for her just went up a little. He also accepted her explanation for why it had to be Percy. He had the better weapon, and he stood a better chance of getting closer without being shredded. That didn't mean he had to like it, though.

Athena sat back, thinking. How much had her past actions hurt her children?

 **("What? I can't-"**

 **"Look, do you... innocent people into statues?")**

"That was a low blow, Annabeth. You know how Percy can be, even at this point, you should have known." Thalia told her reproachfully. Poseidon looked stony for a second, while Annabeth turned red, but didn't say anything.

Percy put his arms around her and whispered something in her ear, that seemed to cheer her up, if the small kiss she gave him was any indication.

* * *

 **(She pointed to a pair of... stone by the monster.)**

Aphrodite turned red with anger, even as she inwardly mourned the lost love. Ares carefully put a hand on her arm, but she ignored him, instead turning to Percy and Annabeth. "I hope you destroyed her." She snapped, causing everyone to stare at her, wide-eyed.

She stared back at them defiantly before quoting what the book said about this latest statue, and they suddenly all understood.

 **(Annabeth grabbed a green... shield would be better.")**

Athena understood what she was talking about, even while most of the rest of the room was confused. "Yes, it would, but you have to use what's available sometimes." She assured her daughter, who smiled slightly.

 **(She studied the sphere critically... should be off by a factor of-")**

"What?"

Annabeth, her younger self, Athena, and the Hephaestus crowd all sighed. They would never be able to make these people understand the beauty of calculations and putting stuff together.

 **("Would you speak English?")**

"Yes, please."

Annabeth glared, making a few of the younger kids squeak. Which caused both Luke's to give her the _look._

 **("I _am!_ " She tossed me... _Never_ look at her directly.")**

A few of the gods frowned slightly. Even looking at her in the glass held a risk of being turned to stone.

"You don't want to risk looking at her indirectly, either." Apollo muttered, worried.

 **("Hey, guys!" Grover... think she's unconscious!")**

"Yeah!"

"Go Grover!" The room cheered. Grover grinned, somewhat proudly, before he gestured for _Annabeth_ to keep reading.

 **(" _Roooaaarrr!")_**

 _"Aww."_

"Hit her again!" The demigods all cheered while the gods slumped (not that most of them will admit to doing something so undignified) in disappointment.

If she'd been knocked out, she would have so much easier to kill, which meant the kids would be safe. Well, about as safe as two demigods and a Satyr _could_ be when on a quest, and while one of them was being accused to theft from the King of the gods...

 **("Maybe not," Grover corrected... pass with the tree branch.)**

"Yeah! Get her!"

 **("Hurry," Annabeth told me... he'll eventually crash.")**

"Yes, hurrying would be good." Grover said with a grimace. This next bit had not been fun.

Artemis and Apollo nodded in agreement with Annabeth, fighting while relying solely on hearing and smell, was NOT easy. Not even for them. And, on top of that, Grover was doing this while using a magical item that he was not used to, and doing all this while in flight, among a bunch of statues that didn't make sound, they just stood there.

 **(I took out my pen and... elongated in my hand.)**

"Here we go." Several people leaned forward in their seats. Especially Ares. He was loving this, finally some action!

 **(I followed the hissing and spitting sounds of Medusa's hair.)**

"Well, one thing is for sure, she's not the best at stealth." Hermes said with a shrug. Honestly, if he or any of his kids were that loud, they would not be nearly as good at theft and such as they were.

 **(I kept my eyes locked... reflection, not the real thing.)**

Percy grimaced and muttered something to Annabeth about wanting to bleach his eyes, and then his brain. She was truly hideous.

"Um, Percy? You do know that bleach is..."

"Eh, I'll do it near a large body of water, I'll be fine." She didn't look convinced.

 **(Then, in the green tinted...** **he flew a little too low.)**

The Twins winced. Yeah, that was where him being unfamiliar with the flying shoes would come into play. If he was a little more familiar with using them... he might have been able to judge his altitude a little better even with his eyes closed.

 **(Medusa grabbed the stick and pulled him off course.)**

A few people groaned, some gasped, and a few others looked at Grover, worried.

He rolled his eyes, "I'm ok, I was just dazed." When they looked a little confused, he pointed to _Annabeth_ to get her to keep reading.

 **(He tumbled through the air... with a painful "Ummphh!")**

"Ouch."

"That had to hurt."

"Being thrown into stone objects? NOT fun."

'On the bright side,' Percy thought, 'Grover is providing some pretty good tension relief for the others. It's not quite so suffocating in here anymore.'

 **(Medusa was about to lunge at him when I yelled, "Hey!")**

"Thank you for that."

"No problem."

 **(I advanced on her,... a sword and a glass ball.)**

"Hmm, how big was that glass ball?" Ares asked, and Annabeth used her arms to indicate what she remembered of the size. "If you'd had more training before this quest, you wouldn't have had a problem with that, but... as it is, that ball is just big enough to be in the way, but at the same time, could make a good shield if you can maneuver it properly." He said with a shrug.

"That sounded smart." Athena said, shocked.

He scowled. "I'm the god of WAR. I'd be pretty bad at my job if I didn't know anything about fighting or the slightest bit of battle strategy." He snapped at her.

 **(If she charged, I'd have a hard time defending myself.)**

"Hard, yes. Doable, also yes." Ares said, still annoyed.

 **(But she let me approach- twenty feet, ten feet.)**

"She's grown cocky. She thinks too highly of her own skill, and she underestimates you too much." Ares said with a nod.

"That, and he looks so much like Poseidon." Sally said faintly, still within Paul and Hestia's grips.

 **(I could see the reflection... it wasn't really _that_ ugly.)**

Percy gagged. "She is. She most certainly is." He announced.

"How do you know that?" Poseidon asked suspiciously.

"I met her sisters." Percy answered gravely.

 **(The green swirls of the...** **making my arms go weak.)**

Poseidon paled slightly. "That's what I was afraid of, even in a reflection, she could still turn you to stone. The process is just slowed down significantly. If you had kept staring at her eyes in the reflection, you would have eventually been turned into a statue."

Annabeth's eyes widened, she hadn't thought of that, she just knew that they would be safe as long as they didn't look her directly in the eyes.

 **(From the cement grizzly... "Percy, don't listen to her!")**

"Listen to him!" A few people yelled.

"For once on this insane quest." Grover muttered in agreement.

 **(Medusa cackled. "Too late."**

 **She lunged at me with her talons.)**

Sally gasped and held on tighter to Paul, who grunted. This woman was deceptively strong.

Everyone else held their breath, waiting to hear what happened next.

 **(I slashed up with my... of a monster disintegrating.)**

Everybody cheered, and Percy's parents breathed a sigh of relief. "Absolutely amazing, next to no training, and yet still able to fight so well." Ares muttered, eyeing Percy and wondering just how much better he would be now, with training. Maybe he should ask for a spar later.

 **(Something fell to the ground... heads tugging at my shoelaces.)**

Piper made a face. "Do you have to be so descriptive?" She asked. A few of the other girls, and even a couple of the guys, were grimacing in disgust with green faces, too.

"Sorry. But you know I didn't write this, the Fates did... technically." Percy pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's from your point of view," Thalia countered. Percy just shrugged.

Then he paused. "Yes, it is my point of view..." He turned to Piper, "So what are you complaining about for? I'm the one who actually felt it! The description doesn't do it justice at all!" He exclaimed.

 **("Oh, yuck," Grover said... and steaming. "Mega-yuck.")**

"Again, you didn't feel it, you just heard it." Percy said with a shiver, remembering how disgusting that felt.

 **(Annabeth came up next to me, her eyes fixed on the sky.)**

"Yeah, don't look at it. Don't look at it." Athena said softly.

 **(She was holding Medusa's...** **monster's head in black cloth,)**

"Good thinking. It can still petrify, but not if the eyes are covered." Somebody said in relief.

Annabeth and Percy exchanged a small smirk, thinking about what that was used for.

 **(then picked it up. It was still dripping green juice.)**

"Eww."

"Gross."

"That's disgusting." Was proclaimed throughout the room.

 **("Are you okay?" she asked me, her voice trembling.)**

"Adrenaline." Apollo said immediately.

"Plus relief that it was over." Hermes added.

 **("Yeah," I decided, though... didn't the head evaporate?")**

"Spoil of war." Several people said somewhat proudly. To get a spoil of war was a mark of skill, to get one from THIS particular monster, if he went back and displayed that, it would really send a message.

 **("Once you sever it, it... "Same as your minotaur horn.)**

"Except the horn is just a tad bit easier to display without grossing everyone out or petrifying them." Piper pointed out to the room. Annabeth shrugged.

"Have you seen some of the spoils we have stored up in the attic?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "Believe me, Medusa's head would have fit right in."

 **(But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you.")**

People nodded in agreement.

 **(Grover moaned as he climbed... had a big welt on his forehead.)**

Will winced. As a Healer, he wanted to go over and check that Grover was ok, even though he knew that this was years ago.

 **(His green rasta cap hung... been knocked off his hooves.)**

"It actually looked kind of cute." Annabeth whispered to Percy, who grinned. Grover heard what she said, bleated in anger, and GLARED.

She just raised an eyebrow at him in challenge.

 **(The magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head.**

 **"The Red Baron,")**

"Oh." A few futures said in unison. It actually creeped some of the younger kids out, the way they did that.

"So that's where that nickname comes from. I wondered." Thalia said with a shrug.

 **(I said. "Good job, man.")**

A few more cheers went up for Grover, making him turn red.

 **(He managed a bashful... really was _not_ fun, though.)**

"Which part?" Thalia asked curiously. Grover pointed at the book.

 **(Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun.)**

He got a couple more cheers. He had a feeling that this group would be talking about that one for a while.

"I wish I could have been there. Man, that sounds like it was a blast." Thalia grumbled good-naturedly.

 **(But crashing into a concrete bear? _Not_ fun.")**

"Amen to that, brother." Some of the demigods grumbled. Several of them who fought in the war, they had their fair share of experience being thrown into concrete. Mostly when a monster managed to hit them and send them flying into the side of the building. Luckily, they all had their brothers and sisters nearby to cover them until they got back on their feet.

 **(He snatched his shoes out...** **too exhausted to speak.)**

"Aaannndd the adrenaline has worn off." Apollo and Will both announced.

 **(Finally I said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?")**

"Yes." Poseidon, Amphitrite, and Triton all muttered. After Athena cursed her, they had had a bit of a crisis under the sea, a lot of their mer-soldiers and what would have constituted as police kept turning up as statues. Which, was not good for national security. Or public safety.

"Hey!" Athena protested, glaring at Percy. "Do not blame me for your father's actions, boy." She growled. She may be somewhat willing to accept her part in this, but she wouldn't have done it if Poseidon hadn't been with that woman in her temple.

Percy glared right back. "First of all, even if my dad was being disrespectful and making out with her in your temple, YOU are still the one who turned her into _that_. Don't blame him for YOUR actions. Second of all, both dad and several others in this room have said he wasn't in a relationship with Medusa, and was only in your temple in the first place to hide from her. SO GET OVER IT ALREADY AND ACCEPT THAT YOU WERE WRONG!" He yelled.

Athena stared at him for a second in shock, before her brain caught up with what just happened, and she moved to get up with a murderous expression on her face. She didn't much farther though. Since as soon as she started moving, the MS moved too.

People blinked and they were in place. One of them was standing back, in front of Percy and Annabeth, with an arrow cocked and pointed right at Athena's head. Two more were standing on either side of her, with their swords crossed at her throat, one of them was Imperial Gold, while the other looked like some kind of bone. Another was in front and slightly crouched so he was out of the archer's way. His sword was distorted slightly so nobody could get a good look at it, but it was pointed upward, right at her chin. One of the girls snapped her fingers and chains materialized out of the Mist around Athena, holding her to her throne, while the last two stood back, clearly ready to move, but not needed yet. ( **Frank is in back with the bow; Percy, Annabeth, and Jason are holding her at sword-point; Hazel conjured up the chains; and Piper and Leo can't really draw weapons or do anything else without being obvious about who they were.)**

Even Mrs. O'Leary was on her feet and growling at Athena.

"We are growing tired of your attitude. Sit. Down." One of the girls whispered. Despite how low she was speaking, her voice still carried, although it was low enough that none of them could recognize it. Athena slowly sat, watching them with wide eyes. Just as quick as they moved into position, they moved again, this time to stand in the middle of the room.

"Besides, the Fates left specific instructions that this whole thing was so you could learn to get along with the demigods and each other. As such, I think it's time we tell you why we are here before our part in these books." The archer whispered.

"The time we come from is roughly one year plus a few months after the end of the Titan War. We have seen and done much in that one year, we have learned much. And we are tired of the bickering and fighting that goes on in this room. As such, the Fates sent us here, to enforce their rules of not harming each other." The swords-woman said softly.

"We will allow some arguing, some dispute. Sometimes nothing gets accomplished without a little argument. We will let Lady Hestia handle most of it, she is good at it, and you all listen to her, sometimes. But, if we feel it is getting out of hand, and is about to get physical, we will step in and stop it." The girl who conjured the chains said simply.

While many of them wondered just how strong these seven were, the ones who had already figured out who they were wondered just what happened and how they got so fast, one of them turned to Athena and spoke. "Your pride has continued to rule your actions for too long. Admit when you are wrong about something for once and move on." With that said, they retreated back to their corner, hooded faces turned expectantly towards _Annabeth_ , who just sat there and stared at them for a few minutes before a cleared throat brought her attention back to the book.

 **(Annabeth flashed me an... Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend.)**

"She was not." Poseidon protested again, glaring at Athena. She glared back, but didn't do anything else. Not with the MS there, they were strong, and fast. Very fast. They were also here with orders given to them by the Fates themselves.

When the Fates gave you an order, you carried it out.

By any means necessary.

She also needed time to think over what she'd learned earlier, that her children would be targeted solely because they were her children. She may not be the most caring of mothers, but she was still a mother.

 **(They decided to meet in my mother's temple.)**

"Not true." Poseidon said again, vehemently.

 **(That's why Athena turned her... her get into the temple,)**

"THAT part is true." Poseidon said with a nod.

"She was already a monster way before Athena cursed her, though. Just, a different kind." Amphitrite said stiffly.

 **(they became the three... She's still sweet on your dad.)**

Poseidon shuddered. "Yeah, because that's not creepy at all." Percy and Triton both said at the same time. They blinked at each other, and a few others snickered.

 **(You probably reminded her...** **_my_ fault we met Medusa.")**

"Actually, it could be argued that it's Hades and the Kindly Ones faults. After all, if they hadn't attacked the bus..." _Annabeth_ interrupted herself, shrugging her shoulders. Hades glared at her, but she Percy cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at the Lord of the Underworld.

"My Furies may have attacked the bus, but it was YOU three who went towards Medusa's lair afterwards, and not in another direction." He said with a frown and a glare for his nephew.

"True... but if they hadn't attacked the bus, then we wouldn't have needed to go anywhere. We would have just driven right on by." Percy pointed out. "But, at any rate, let's not play the blame game. I hate that game."

 **(Annabeth straightened. In a...** **said. "You're impossible.")**

"You also reminded me a lot of Lily right then. I wanted it to stop," Percy murmured to Annabeth. She looked at him guiltily.

 **("You're insufferable."**

 **"You're-"**

 **"Hey!" Grover interrupted.)**

"THANK YOU!" The futures said, relieved that Grover stepped in and stopped the argument. Those two bickered way too much for everyone else's sanity.

* * *

It was amazing that they could fit so well together considering how much they bickered.

 **("You two are giving me a migraine,)**

A few people whistled, impressed. Satyrs were physically incapable of getting migraines, or headaches in general.

 **(and satyrs don't even... do with the head?")**

"That's... a good question, actually. None of you have a bag to carry it in, not to mention you are only in the beginning of your trip, and it will only get in the way if you get in another fight." Athena mused. "Well, I suppose you could always use it to petrify any monsters you run into, but..." She shrugged.

"And, there's no telling what the mortals would see of it through the Mist. The Mist can be rather unpredictable sometimes." Apollo added.

"Oh, don't worry. It got put to good use." Percy said mysteriously, Sally hid a smile in Paul's shoulder.

 **(I stared at the thing... YOUR BUSINESS!**

 **I was angry,)**

"Oh, that's not good."

"For anybody, really."

"His enemies, though, are in even more trouble." Thalia told the rest of the demigods who spoke up, a raised eyebrow daring them to contradict her.

"Why is that?" Poseidon asked, curious. Although Triton and Amphitrite shook their heads, amused. This boy was a lot like his father.

"Well, when he gets angry, he gets even more reckless. Of course, it's very bad for his enemies, because when he's angry, nothing is going to stop him from taking them down. But, at the same time, his friends are usually stuck trying to keep up or trying to run damage control, depending on what he did." Grover explained.

Annabeth nodded. "We have had to try and run damage control a lot over the years, from Percy's recklessness when he's angry." She explained with a fond sigh. Percy just shrugged, although he was a little red.

"Sounds like someone else I know." Amphitrite said, looking between her husband and son. They both gave her a look like, 'Who, me?'

 **(not just with Annabeth or her... very first day out from camp.)**

"That's a good reason to be angry." Nico said.

"Especially since his moods have already been crazier than usual." Thalia said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

"Don't you remember?" Annabeth asked her. When she and several others shook their heads, she rolled her eyes and reminded them. "Percy's mood has been worsening since the Winter Solstice, since the storms started, since the oceans started acting strange because of his father's anger."

"Oh, yeah..." Rachel said in realization. "His moods are largely affected by the ocean."

Percy shook his head, "Just when something big is going on in Dad's domain. Then it starts to affect me more than usual."

 **(At this rate, we'd never... before the summer solstice.)**

"Wow, way to be positive." Thalia said, giving her a cousin an odd look. He just shrugged, Annabeth sighed.

 **(What had Medusa said?...** _ **be better off as a statue.)**_

The Greek demigods all scowled, they hated being the gods pawns, but, what were they going to do about it? Mostly, they could just do their own thing, so unless something was going on, like the war, it wasn't usually too bad. The Romans weren't too worried about it. They rarely, if ever, saw the gods or received communication from them. So, they just did their own thing anyway.

Poseidon frowned, his son was not a pawn. Never was, never would be. The rest of the Olympians stirred, this wasn't the first time in this book that they'd been accused of using their children like that.

 **(I got up. "I'll be back.")**

"This is gonna be good." The Stolls both muttered. They just knew Percy had to be up to something.

He usually was, even if they didn't know the half of it until just recently.

Percy heard them and smirked.

 **("Percy," Annabeth called after...** **Hades and Persephone's garden.)**

"I didn't know it was her, if it was, I would have dealt with it myself. Laws or not laws." Persephone said with her eyes narrowed. She had never liked Medusa, and she was horrified to learn that she'd been supporting that woman's business all these years.

"I know dear, I know." Hades said quietly, patting his wife on the arm, which earned him a glare from his sister/mother-in-law. She didn't say anything though, she had noticed Hestia watching her, and she knew that her older sister would not stand for it today. "And it's not my garden, I'm not allowed in it." He said, louder, so the rest of the room could hear.

"Well, dear, death and gardening don't really mix." Persephone said primly. Hades actually turned a little red when he remembered the last time he had some free time (centuries ago) and tried to help her in her garden. He almost killed all the plants when he got excited about something they were talking about.

 **(According to one freight bill... Studios, West Hollywood, California.)**

Hades groaned and eyed the Stoll brothers. The last thing he needed was for those four to get bright ideas about sneaking into his realm and 'having fun'. Which would only cause problems for him. He was relieved when Percy gave them a stern look. From what he'd seen so far, Percy was the only being in the universe that they would listen to.

Now that that crisis was averted, he could focus on the part where book-Percy now knew where to go to get to the Underworld. Which was just perfect, because he could already feel the headache this godling was about to cause him.

 **(I folding up the bill and stuffed it in my pocket.)**

Hermes nodded in approval.

 **(In the cash register I... a few golden drachmas,)**

"Nice." All the Hermes crew said at once.

"Course, it's not that big of a haul, but..." Travis said.

"Considering the circumstances, I suppose it's better than nothing." Connor finished.

 **(and some packing slips... until I found the right-size box.)**

"You're not." Travis breathed reverently.

"Oh, if you do this..." Connor trailed off, awed. Percy smirked at them. Everyone else started giving Percy strange looks.

 **(I went back to the picnic table, packed up Medusa's head,)**

Everyone started to look warily at Percy, some of them were starting to get a bad feeling about where this was going. The Stolls were looking more and more awed the more _Annabeth_ read.

 **(and filled out the delivery slip:**

 _ **The Gods**_

 _ **Mount Olympus**_

 _ **600th Floor,**_

 _ **Empire State Building**_

 _ **New York, NY**_

 _ **With best wishes,**_

 _ **PERCY JACKSON)**_

The Stolls, all four of them, looked at Percy in awe. "We are not worthy." They breathed.

"Not worthy to stand in his presence," Connor said.

"Not worthy to think he doesn't know the Arts." Travis followed.

"Not even worthy to breathe the same air." The _Stolls_ finished in unison. When they said it was going to be good, they couldn't have imagined this in their wildest dreams.

Percy smirked at the four while everyone else slowly edged away from the five boys.

 **("They're not going to like... think you're impertinent.")**

"He _is_ impertinent." Sally muttered fondly, glancing at her three boys. And wasn't that just weird for her to say? She had three different versions, from three different times, of her son all in one place.

 **(I poured some golden drachmas... table and disappeared with a _pop_!)**

Amphitrite's forehead met the palm of her hand, and she shook her head back and forth. This boy... he was definitely Poseidon's son. There was no doubt about it.

The Stolls were still staring at Percy as if they might start making their burnt offerings to him now, instead of their father. Hermes himself was staring at the one who seemed to be more mischievous than even his own sons, and then his gaze swung thoughtfully to Sally. Athena still had yet to run a history check on her...

Poseidon was proud of his son. Worried, but proud. He knew that there were some on the council who would not take kindly to this...

When Jason glanced over at Leo, he'd been pretty quiet, it was to see him staring at Percy, with his mouth wide open, clearly he was still trying to process.

 **("I _am_ impertinent," I said.)**

"No..." Amphitrite said slowly. "What you are is a son of Poseidon. Although, I can't remember any of my other step-children being this... troublesome." She said, still shaking her head, and wondering how on earth Sally did it.

Percy grinned impishly.

 **(I looked at Annabeth, daring...** **talent for ticking off the gods.)**

"I think it's less of a talent, and more of an art form." Thalia said, slightly in awe of her cousins tendency to tick them off, and _still be alive and in one piece._ Even after all these years.

Percy grinned proudly while those around him grumbled.

 **("Come on," she muttered. "We need a new plan.")**

"Done." _Annabeth_ announced. A few people were still staring at Percy, hardly able to believe he had just done that.

"You," Reyna finally said, pointing at him. "Are one crazy _Graecus._ "

"Why thank you." Percy said with a grin.

She glared. "That wasn't a compliment." His grin just widened.

"I will read." Hestia said, stopping the argument between the two camp leaders. _Annabeth_ handed off the book to her, and went back to sit with _Luke. "_ **Chapter twelve: We get Advice from a Poodle."**

* * *

I had a question about what the MS were doing in the story if all they do is sit in the corner and listen. They are there as the Fates enforcers.


	16. Chapter 16

_demigods from the present,_ demigods and people from the future with younger counterpart, MS from the future

 _telepathy_

* * *

 _"Done." Annabeth announced. A few people were still staring at Percy, hardly able to believe he had just done that._

 _"You," Reyna finally said, pointing at him. "Are one crazy_ Graecus _."_

 _"Why thank you." Percy said with a grin._

 _She glared. "That wasn't a compliment." His grin just widened._

 _"I will read." Hestia said, stopping the argument between the two camp leaders._ Annabeth _handed off the book to her, and went back to sit with_ Luke _. "_ _ **Chapter twelve: We get Advice from a Poodle."**_

"A poodle?" Thalia asked, clearly questioning what was left of their sanity.

"It was Grover's idea." Percy grumbled, while Grover glared slightly. He happened to like Gladiola, he was a very smart dog.

 **(We were pretty miserable that night.)**

"That's a good way to start a chapter." Somebody grumbled.

 **(We camped out in the woods... obviously been using for parties.)**

Dionysus and Artemis frowned, and she shot a quick glare at him. After all, parties were his domain, and kids tended to leave a mess behind for her to try and clean up. Apollo frowned too.

"Why didn't you just stay at the warehouse?" Leo asked, if it was him, he would have stayed. He knew, that if you had a chance for a roof over your head, you had to take it. Because you never knew when you would get another chance for it.

"Creepy statues." They said, as if that explained everything. And for many, it did. But Leo just frowned again, who cares about the creepy statues. A roof is a roof.

 **(The ground was littered... cans and fast-food wrappers.)**

Apollo and Artemis both growled, startling everyone there.

Grover sighed. "Don't worry, I have the nature spirits keeping and eye out and cleaning up where they can." He placated. "It shouldn't be our job to clean up after the humans, but there we go." He grumbled. Honestly, they should learn how to pick up after themselves, at least.

"I'm surprised the place isn't covered with beer cans or bottles." Dionysus muttered, sipping at his wine and leaning back.

 **(We'd taken some food and... a fire to dry our damp clothes.)**

Leo grumbled. At least they had the brains to gather some supplies from the place. Although, it would have been better if they just stayed there the night.

Poseidon frowned. "If you had more time to train and get to know your abilities, then you could have dried all your clothes off." He said. He didn't hold it against them though, Percy had only known that he was his son for maybe a week. And it didn't sound like he'd really had a chance, between training and camp activities (not to mention worrying about the part where he wasn't technically supposed to exist) to really see what he could do. Not to mention, there was no older sibling to show him the ropes like some of the other cabins had. And, if he could, Poseidon would have sent somebody to at least get him started, but if he was on the verge of war...

Percy and Annabeth froze, staring at him. Then, both facepalmed and started muttering about how they were idiots for not thinking of that sooner.

Grover muttered something about not finding bags or something and bringing more food with them. Sure, they cleaned out the cash register (of both mortal and godly currency), but they only took enough food for that night. Even for breakfast, they had to go find something else. But, they could have fried up some burgers, brought some wax paper, and maybe some buns for later. And whatever else they could find in there. Her fridge had been full. Could have brought more than some bags of chips... they really should have planned ahead better. By the time they got to Colorado, they were hungry.

Percy and Annabeth glanced at him and agreed. That first day had not gone well, at all. On so many levels.

 **(The Furies and Medusa had... want to attract anything else.)**

"That's true."

"There would have been less risk of that from _inside_ the warehouse, though." Leo muttered. The quest trio blinked at him. He wasn't going to let that go, was he?

 **(We decided to sleep in shifts...** **as her head hit the ground.)**

Annabeth snorted. That was the last time she ever fell asleep so easily outside the safety of camp or her bedroom at her dads. Although, even her bedroom was iffy sometimes considering there was no magic boundary keeping things out. And the spiders...

 **(Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree,)**

Hermes nodded approvingly. "You got the hang of those shoes fairly quickly. Impressive." He complimented.

Grover flushed red, "Considering the circumstances..." Hermes just quirked a grin and left it at that. He would give him that one.

There was a momentary distraction when Leo got up to sit with Beckendorf and showed him what he was sketching earlier. When Beckendorf saw the blueprints for a whip, made of a mix of Celestial Bronze, silver, and Imperial Gold, his eyebrows rose. Two of those were difficult metals to work with on there own, let alone getting them to bond together. Adding silver into the mix... well, it was a mortal metal, which was technically forbidden, but... it might be allowed in this case because silver was also used by the Huntresses. (And it was the only thing that could affect they Lycan's, and since they themselves were considered monsters…) He read the notes off to the side about it being able to withstand heat, and whistled.

Depending on how hot he wanted to go, that wouldn't be a problem, none of those metals melted easily. It would have to be enchanted, though, just to be on the safe side, wouldn't want him accidentally going hotter than the metals could handle in the middle of a fight. Plus, the repeated exposure to extreme heat could compromise the metals integrity. And, of course, it would have to still be flexible enough to use as a whip. The enchantments that would need to go into this was probably the only reason his little brother was showing him before even getting started on it. Fire-users couldn't enchant things, they didn't have the right magic for it. Because, Leo certainly didn't show him it to check for design flaws, he was better than that.

"Yeah, this can work. You want to start working tonight? I can take care of the enchanting while you do the rest?" He asked, thinking they could use the palace forge. This was Leo's project though, the only thing here that Leo couldn't do himself was the enchantments needed. Of course, when he said that, he wasn't taking into account that Leo could provide all the heat and fire they needed to shape the metals.

Leo just grinned and held up his hand, lighting it on fire. Beckendorf grinned back and Hephaestus, who had been watching them, waved his hand and provided the materials they needed.

The two of them grinned at their dad, then found a corner and got to work.

"Why didn't I think of that?!" Leo asked the others, almost whining. Frank reached over to pat him on the back consolingly.

 **(put his back to the trunk..** **.** **signed up for this stupid quest?")**

"Nah, that was more terrifying than anything else." Grover said, watching as Percy and Annabeth started another game of hangman, while some of the MS pulled out a deck of cards and started a game with Clarisse and the Stolls. They did a pretty good job of it, what with limiting their speech and all that.

"I don't think the quest is what he's talking about, either." Artemis said quietly, watching all the demigods finding various activities to hold their attention while they listened. She was glad they could find things to amuse themselves so easily, she really didn't want to deal with hyperactive demigods. Which is what would have happened if they tried to focus on just the reading for a long time. She was surprised they managed it this long.

 **("No. This makes me sad."... They've polluted the sky.)**

"Men." Zoe and Artemis said in disgust.

Rachel cleared her throat. "It's not just men that mess things up." She said, thinking of her mother and some of her father's business partners. Artemis looked at her, about to shoot her down, but stopped when she saw the look on her face.

"You've never seen the night sky how it used to be, Satyr, but yes, it was beautiful." Artemis said instead.

 **(This is a terrible time to...** **be an environmentalist.")**

His comment got him glared at by Artemis, Zoe, Apollo, and Thalia. Hermes' glare was more half-hearted than anything else, but he still took offense. After all, the wild was his sons domain.

Percy gave them a look, asking 'what?'

 **(He glared at me. "Only a... It's useless to lecture a human.)**

"Hey!" Rachel glared. Not all humans were hopeless, thank you very much.

"Rachel, you are one of the rare few." Grover said quickly, he didn't want to get the hairbrush thrown at him. She was deadly with that thing. Especially since she got one made special with Celestial Bronze along the edges, so she could actually take monsters out with it if need be.

 **(At the rate things are going, I'll never find Pan.")**

"Pam?" _Percy_ asked, confused. Why was he looking for cooking spray? It wasn't that hard to find, just go to the store.

The Grover's and Hermes glared, while Percy was trying really hard not to laugh.

 **("Pam? Like the cooking spray?")**

Several palms met foreheads and sighs of either exasperated fondness, or just exasperation swept the room. Hermes and _Grover_ looked highly offended, while Poseidon and Triton looked like they were trying not to laugh. Too hard, anyway.

A couple of people absently wondered how many bruises Percy had the next morning.

Both Percy's ignored everyone else to smirk at each other.

 **("Pan!" he cried indignantly.)**

"I would be indignant too." Somebody muttered.

 **("P-A-N. The great god Pan!...** **been in these woods.)**

All the gods sat on the edge of their thrones in shock, staring at Grover.

"That's the most anybody has heard from Pan in 2,000 years." Hermes whispered faintly, watching Grover in interest. 2,000 years of searching, on both his and the satyrs part, and the first sign that he was even still alive was made to this satyr.

This was proof, proof that his son was still out there and this satyr was the one to find him. His son was waiting for someone like this satyr to come along...

"If all the nature spirits work together, than maybe we can restore places like this clearing to what they used to be." Grover murmured, making mental plans and ignoring the stares of the Olympian council and their spouses.

 **(Suddenly I was nostalgic for something I'd never known.)**

"You'll know it soon enough, Alaska is full of places that have never been touched by human beings." Hazel murmured.

"Especially since we have no idea where in Alaska we're going." Percy snorted in agreement when Frank dryly pointed that out.

"Why are you going to Alaska?" Poseidon asked carefully.

"Searching for the Legions standard. Among other things." Percy told his father cheerfully.

Alcyoneus... Hades shivered. That old giant was the only thing in Alaska that the Legion could possibly be after. The reason they had lost their standard in the first place. He had interrogated some of Michael Varus's men back when they came to the Underworld. Purely because they had died in Alaska. Considering what happened to Hazel in Alaska... He knew exactly where it was that Hazel, Frank, and Percy were going. It wasn't good, but if they could pull this off... well, maybe he should give them a few hints to help their way while they were here. Increase their chances of survival if nothing else.

 **("Tell me about the search," I said...** **I was just making fun.)**

"I would never do that." Percy said, honestly offended that Grover would think that.

"I know you wouldn't." Grover said with a small smile. Percy gave him a quick look, trying to figure out what the caution was for in the book then, before smiling back.

 **("The God of Wild Places disappeared two thousand years ago,")**

Hermes slumped down in his throne and ran a hand over his face. He would find out what happened to his son in these books. He was almost afraid to know. For now, though, he resigned himself to hearing the painful story. Hopefully it would be the short version.

 **(he told me. "A sailor off the... the great god Pan has died!')**

The Romans frowned. "We've never heard this story." Reyna murmured.

"Pan disappeared a couple of centuries before the Roman empire came into being. So, I'm not surprised if you never heard about it. As far as Roman history is concerned, Pan never really existed. The Satyrs and nature spirits are the only ones besides his friends who seemed to really care and showed any concern at the time." Hermes said, somewhat bitterly. He had honestly not been happy when some humans 'celebrated' Pans disappearance and started pillaging from nature as they pleased without him there to stop them.

Reyna frowned, and decided that she should probably study Greek history closer than before, considering the Greek's history was much more extensive and ancient than the Roman one. It seemed like it would be a very good thing to know, especially since they were reading these books about the Greeks. Even if it was from Percy's point of view.

"I thought gods were immortal, that you couldn't die." Paul said, a little confused on that point.

"We are, and we can't. Well, if we take too much damage, then we might for a while. But we will return. We, can, however, fade. Permanently. We won't, though, as long as there are still people who 'acknowledge' us." Poseidon answered. Paul frowned, but nodded his thanks for the explanation.

 **(When humans heard the... pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since.)**

The Hunters in the room all scowled, while Hermes glared at the wall. Dionysus sighed. He tried, he really tried to keep Pan's domain safe while he was gone, but he was afraid that he had his own domain to worry about, and lately he had camp as well to take care of.

 **(But for the satyrs, Pan... and wake him from his sleep.")**

"Wow." Was the general comment from those who hadn't already known about this. Being the Romans and trio. They were a little amazed at the dedication the Satyrs showed, while the Romans were wondering why the Fawns didn't do anything like this.

"I bet none of them thought of looking in Alaska though." Hazel said, somewhat dryly. "It's the perfect place to hide, and it's pretty wild up there. Being away from the gods influence and all that." She shrugged when the satyrs looked at her in shock.

"You know, I don't think Alaska was ever searched." _Grover_ said thoughtfully. He was trying to shore up some courage to go there himself, once he got his license. Hopefully, that wouldn't be necessary after these books.

"How do you know so much about Alaska?" Artemis finally asked Hazel. She herself had been to Alaska several times, there was good hunting there, even if she could never stay long before starting to get tired from being out of the sphere for so long. Alaska was something of neutral territory between all the Pantheons, nobody could really stay there for long, think of it like the eye of a storm, with all the action happening around it, but not touching it.

"I used to live there." Hazel said blankly. Then she cheered up a little. Despite everything, she had made a little home for herself, roaming the countryside as she did. "It's beautiful countryside, there's a lot of gold laying around under the grounds surface too..." She shrugged. The gods were looking at her like they couldn't quite decide what to think.

Before Hestia could continue though, Hermes thanked the satyrs in the room for their long dedication to finding his son.

 **("And you want to be a searcher."...** **the first searcher to return alive.")**

"Whoa, wait, what?" All the Romans asked, shocked. Did he just say the first? Grover crooked a bittersweet grin.

"And you were." Percy said with a sad, but proud grin. Proud of his best friend for everything he accomplished, but sad that so many satyrs died over the years, sacrificing so much... just to be the next meal. Why was it the only half-siblings he had that were decent were Tyson and Triton? The rest of his siblings were all a bunch of jerks who wanted to either kill him, or aid the enemy. What was up with that?

 _Grover_ looked at his older self in amazement, with a little bit of hero worship in his eyes.

 **("Hang on-the first?")**

"Yeah, answers, please." Gwen called. She had to know about this one.

 **(Grover took his reed pipes...** **two thousand years?"**

 **"No.")**

A few people whistled. "Now, that right there is dedication." Piper voiced what they were all thinking for a bit now. She was slightly impressed, but also a little disturbed. That was a lot of satyrs going out, a lot of families left behind.

"How come we never heard of this before?" Jason asked, he would have thought that they would have heard about it, it seemed to be common knowledge for the others.

"There's no need to continue the search." Grover said sadly. "Pan was found." He didn't give any details, though. He kept saying that it would be in one of the books, and he didn't want to go over it. Hermes had looked hopeful, but... at the tone Grover used, was now slumped over in his throne, mourning a loss that he'd known was coming, but still hoping wouldn't happen. Apollo was doing his best to comfort him, but he didn't really know what to do.

"But... what is killing the satyrs?" Reyna asked, disturbed.

"At the time, we didn't know. We found out the summer after this, so it should be the next book...?" Percy asked Annabeth, who confirmed that the next book should be the quest to the Sea of Monsters.

 **("And your dad? You have no idea what happened to him?"**

 **"None.")**

Those who had a loving parent (both Percy's, Leo, Frank, Piper, etc.) winced and looked at Grover in sympathy, and those who had lost that loving parent understood exactly where he was coming from. Even Percy, even though he was lucky, he got his mom back. And he was never letting her go again.

Those who didn't have the best home lives before camp, they didn't really know what to feel about it. Sure, they didn't want something to happen to their mortal parent, but at the same time... they weren't sure how they would feel if something did happen.

 **("But you still want to... be the one to fin** **d Pan?")**

"I know you will be." Percy said quietly, looking at _Grover_. The two satyrs and Chiron were the only ones to really hear him, aside from those sitting next to him. _Grover_ looked startled, like he couldn't believe Percy had that much faith in him, while Chiron looked at both his future/current student in pride, and started thinking about how sending Grover to Yancy was the best decision he ever made.

And he absolutely no doubt that Grover really succeeded.

 **("I have to believe that... Pan can still be awakened.")**

"Although, I think... in the last few centuries or so, the Council has started sending satyrs more for... personal or political reasons then out of any hope of them finding Pan." Percy said. When everyone turned questioning looks at him, he huffed and turned to his people, "You all remember how the Council was treating Grover after New Mexico. He found a sign, and what did they do? They tried to banish him. Because it 'was impossible that Pan would show himself to someone like you.'" He said it as sarcastically as possible, showing exactly how he felt about the Council of Cloven Elders.

"Therefore, they choose Satyrs based a little on politics, and a lot on who they want to be rid of."

And really, it was perfect when he thought about. After all, what better way to get rid of somebody without being blamed, than to send them on a search that everybody knew they weren't going to come back from, and just hoped that they would be the one to come back?

Grover, Hermes, and Dionysus frowned, but had to admit the boy had a point. Dionysus had needed to step in and stop the Council several times when they tried to do exactly that. Of course, there were probably cases that slipped by him, he had many responsibilities, after all.

Hermes resolved to pay more attention to the Council of Cloven Elders.

 **(I stared at the orange haze)**

Only the rest of the MS noticed Percy and Annabeth shiver at hearing that. Since they came out of Tartarus, they had problems seeing darker shades of orange, they couldn't even bear to look at the sunset anymore because of the orange streaks in the sky. Reddish colors could be a problem sometimes, too, mostly if they were paired up with the orange, though.

 **(of the sky and tried...** **do we have against a god?")**

"None."

"Absolutely none."

"Che, don't flatter yourself, kid."

All the Titan War veterans grinned secretively at each other while Percy's family watched the room and muttering gods with raised eyebrows.

 _"Are we the only ones who remember Percy's titles?"_ Poseidon asked his wife and son mentally. They both gave a mental shrug back, since it appeared to them that they were.

"I can't wait 'till the chapter where you fight Ares." Annabeth muttered to Percy, who grinned ferally. He had honestly enjoyed that fight, which he hadn't realized until the fight was over and he realized that he was still alive, but hey. Those gods that were watching the demigods shivered at the look on Percy's face, they weren't sure what to make of it.

Nobody watched Hades watching Percy thoughtfully. So far, this kid seemed capable of doing the impossible. Could he be the one... he glanced at Apollo, who shrugged. He didn't know.

 **("I don't know," he admitted...** **a plan all figured out.")**

"Wow, you guys did not like each other much back then, did you?" Piper muttered, watching the couple.

Percy hesitated, trying to figure out how to word his somewhat complicated feelings for Annabeth back then. "It wasn't so much that I didn't like her... it was more that I was frustrated. We'd been getting along well enough, and then she found out who my father was, and she became condescending, and almost outright hostile. And then there was how she blamed me entirely for the fight with Medusa, as if it were my fault just for simply being a son of Poseidon. It was just starting to get to me, being blamed for something out of my control. Especially when, at this point, I'd never even met my father."

He shrugged.

It didn't bother him anymore, he and Annabeth had worked past this years ago. She'd warmed up to him through this quest, and their relationship got better from there.

Through his entire explanation, Annabeth went a little red, and the seafolk stared at her a little blankly. Poseidon was thinking that he may approve of her now, after observing her with his son, but if he'd heard this information a couple of days ago, he would have outright forbidden her from seeing his son, no matter Percy's thoughts on the matter. She was lucky her attitude had clearly improved over the years.

 **("Don't be so hard on her..** **. "Forgave you for what?")**

Zeus snarled, scaring a few of the younger kids. His grand-daughter may have forgiven the Satyr, but he wouldn't. He wasn't anywhere close to forgiving him. He glanced at his youngest daughter and mentally grimaced when he noticed the look on her face, she glared at him a little, probably for his attitude towards Grover, before she started whispering harshly into _Grover's_ ear.

Thalia was not happy that Grover seemed to blame himself so heavily for what happened to her. She chose to stay behind, nothing that happened to her was in any way, shape, or form his fault.

 **(Suddenly, Grover seemed... playing notes on his pipes.)**

"It was a bit of a sensitive topic." Annabeth said, "For both of us." Percy nodded, he understood that, and he honestly hadn't meant to bring up bad memories, it was just... he had finally realized something.

 **("Wait a minute," I said... first** **assignment that went wrong-")**

A few people who didn't know the full story blinked and suddenly remembered a random bit of information from earlier in the story. Annabeth was at camp for five years... Thalia was twelve when she was turned into a tree, and if she hadn't been turned into a tree, she would be seventeen right now in the book. That was a five year difference...

They were shocked when they put it together that Grover was the Satyr sent out to lead Thalia to camp.

That was what he was blaming himself for the entire time in these books. They glanced at him in shocked amazement.

This also explained why Zeus seemed to especially hate him so much.

 **("I can't talk about it,"... start crying if I pressed him.)**

"Huh." Annabeth muttered. "Were you really about to start crying, or..." She asked Grover.

"A bit of both, actually. I noticed a long time ago, that if it looks like him pressing the subject is going to make you emotional, he'll usually back off. Usually, mind." Grover said, and _Grover_ nodded. He had noticed that at Yancy with his Percy. That was part of what made their friendship real. It didn't take long before the job, was no longer a job for Grover. Where he genuinely enjoyed being with Percy, and protecting him.

Especially in moments like this where Percy was 'pouting' at him amid everyone else's laughter. He looked like somebody kicked his baby seal, and it was honestly a little adorable. Something he would never admit. Not for all the cheese enchiladas in the world.

Sally was privately thinking that Lily abused that tactic to get anything and everything from her brother that she was able to get. He'd always been a bit of a sucker for tears. Real or pretend. Which basically meant that his future wife (most likely Annabeth) was going to end up being the one to discipline the kids.

Especially if said kids found out what a sucker he was for those tears.

 **("But as I was saying, back at... Something isn't what it seems.")**

"Hopefully you figure it out in time." Reyna murmured. "You only have ten days, if you go all that way only to have it confirmed that Hades doesn't have it, will you still have enough time to find out who does?" She asked.

"No, we didn't." Annabeth answered bitterly.

"Luckily, we had been given the right clues along the way." Percy said, tiredly. This whole quest had been exhausting. "It was just a matter of putting it all together once we got to the Underworld, after we spoke with Uncle. But, yeah. It wasn't until after the attack on the bus that we really started to worry about our deadline." He shrugged.

"Well, at least you realized something wasn't right, way before it was too late to realize. It gave you time as you traveled to think of other options." Luke said with what was supposed to be a smile, although it turned out to be more of a grimace. Annabeth had been in so much danger on this quest. This quest that never would have happened if he hadn't stolen the Bolt and Helm.

 **("Well, duh. I'm getting... were sort of holding back.)**

Hades grimaced. "Even with them holding back, you killing them is still an amazing feat." He said with gritted teeth. He hated admitting that, hated complimenting them on their defeat of his Furies, but it was a huge feat. An amazing accomplishment, as much as he hated it. Persephone gave him a small, proud smile and patted his arm.

Percy and the other demigods looked at him in shock. Percy recovered the quickest and gave him a small 'thank-you' for the compliment, then made sure the other demigods stopped staring at him. Which Hades was grateful for.

 **(Like Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy... at us: 'Where is it? Where?'")**

Athena frowned, trying to think what could they possibly be wanting. The only thing she could think of, was if Hades thought Percy had the Bolt too, and wanted it as a bargaining chip for something.

Hades scowled. So, he thought as Zeus did in this instance? That the boy had to have stolen his Helm, or at least had an idea where it was. But that didn't make any sense. He knew that the boy didn't know about Olympus, so why was he going after him as Zeus was? He was usually more level headed than that. Unless... his dreams were being manipulated too. He lived practically right next to the pit. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for Father to do that without him even noticing.

 **("Asking about me," I said... person. They said 'Where is it?')**

"Yes, but what are they looking for?" Ares asked, somewhat bored, but also wanting to know. After all, maybe they could get back to the action faster that way. Athena was frustrated that she couldn't figure it out, while a few others started to get a feeling that they knew. They glanced at Hades and decided that they were on the right track when they saw the expression on his face. They were pretty sure that meant he'd already figured it out and wasn't happy.

He also seemed to be clutching at his Helm kind of like how Zeus was clutching at his Bolt earlier in the book, when they first read about it being stolen.

 **(They seemed to be asking about an object."**

 **"That doesn't make sense.")**

"At the time, it really didn't." Annabeth agreed. She hadn't known that they stayed up talking, luckily she'd learned over time not to be such a deep sleeper outside of camp.

 **("I know. But if we've misunderstood... days to find the master bolt...")**

"That won't be much time." Somebody said.

"Hopefully, if they can find enough physical evidence that neither Hades nor Poseidon were the ones to take the Bolt, it will be enough for Aunt's Hestia, Demeter, and Mother to calm down Father long enough to buy time. And not declare war with Uncle Poseidon." Hephaestus said with a shrug. Athena turned to him, shocked, because that sounded intelligent. Hephaestus and his sons noticed her look and scowled. He was very intelligent, thank you very much. He wouldn't be nearly as good at inventing things or new engineering and mechanical concepts if he wasn't.

"Yes, hopefully that will be enough to buy them a little more time." Demeter said, agreeing with her nephew. She didn't hold out much hope of them talking Zeus down even then, though. Amphitrite should be able to calm Poseidon's temper if the event Hephaestus just described played out, but at the same time... Poseidon's temper happened because he'd been called a thief and wanted an apology. Something that Zeus wasn't likely to give.

"You know, I think I prefer the time constraints on this quest," Percy said, gesturing to the book. "over the time constraints we had after Maine, or the current one to get to Alaska. At least here we had more than an idea of where to go, we have no real idea where to even begin looking in Alaska."

"Didn't I tell you where we going to start?" Hazel asked, frowning.

Percy looked at her and frowned. "I know you said you think you know where the giant is, but we don't know for sure if the giant has the legions stuff, or if that's even where they're keeping Thanatos. And we have a lot less than nine days to figure it out if we get there and he's not." He pointed out.

Hazel and Frank frowned then while Reyna looked worried. They hadn't even thought of that... although they supposed that the smartest thing for the enemy to do, would be to lure them to one location, while keeping Thanatos somewhere else. Keeping Thanatos where the giant was, was really kind of foolish.

 **(He looked at me like he... was worse than petrification.)**

Percy made a face. "Just to be clear, never listen to the monster. Even if what they are saying is the honest truth. Don't listen." He said to the younger kids.

Poseidon looked disheartened that Percy thought that he, Poseidon, was just using him. Poseidon was pretty sure that he would be watching every step of this quest, was pretty sure that he'd argued with Chiron against his son going, especially so soon after he got to camp in the first place. His son wouldn't be on this quest if there was ANY other choice. Not when he was still so untrained...

 **("I haven't been straight... so I could bring back my mother.")**

"I think both he and Annabeth knew that." Thalia muttered to Luke beside her.

He huffed a laugh. "I think we ALL knew that. Well," He amended. "Those of us who knew something happened to her, anyway."

"Why would you not care about my Bolt?! That is the only thing you should be caring about!" Zeus yelled, glaring at Percy. Percy glared back.

Zeus tried not to show how terrified Percy's glare was and how sure he was that Percy was going to kill him right that minute.

"The only thing I cared about on this quest was my mother and making sure the world didn't explode because of your temper tantrums." Percy hissed coldly. Everyone shivered and swore the temperature dropped to Arctic levels. They'd never heard Percy like that before. The only ones to be unaffected were _Percy_ , Annabeth, and Sally. They knew that Percy would never hurt them no matter how angry he got, the others weren't so sure. They'd never seen him like this. Even five of the MS in their corner were affected, Gabe was whimpering quietly to himself, hoping that he wouldn't be noticed. Poseidon was shocked, and a little scared.

Percy got his temper, combined with his mothers. That wasn't good. Luckily for the world, it took quite a bit to get them worked up to this point normally.

Zeus gulped and licked his lips nervously. Swallowed a couple more times, and then finally nodded and squeaked (he did, don't let him say differently) that he understood, Sally Jackson came first.

Percy glared at him for another moment before Percy finally came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "He got the point, your scaring everybody." He whispered in Percy's ear. Percy glanced around, saw the looks on everybodies faces, and visibly calmed himself down. After a moment, he said, "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back later." And walked out, restoring the temperature in the Hall to normal levels and letting everyone breathe again. Sally stared at the door for a moment, worried, but knew that he would be alright, and he just needed a moment alone. Annabeth stayed for the same reason.

"I've never seen Kelp-head like that before." Thalia whispered.

"I have, once." Annabeth said. "It takes a lot to get him like that. And I mean, A LOT. Don't worry though, unless you're the one who made him mad, you're perfectly safe." She reassured everyone, Sally nodded in agreement, with _Percy_ joining in.

Annabeth leaned into Percy's side. "That reminded me of down _there_." She whispered. "I haven't seen that temper in a while."

He smiled tightly at her. "The reason I took so long to get his attention. I was trying not to think about it." She gave him a searching look, and then nodded to herself when she was sure he was really alright.

"We're going to be hearing about it a lot from this point. You had a few dreams on this quest, didn't you? Of _that place_?" She asked. He hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Ok." She breathed out. "We'll get through this. And when it's over, we'll be stronger than ever." She murmured to him, trying to convince herself as much as him. He nodded in agreement anyway.

 **(Grover blew a soft note on... I don't care about him.")**

Poseidon made a soft sound, and Amphitrite put her arm around his waist, "Remember, this was before the two of you really spent time together. Give him time in these books. He's obviously come around and doesn't think this way anymore." She murmured. He sighed, but nodded. He knew that, he did. It was just hard to hear one of his children say things like that about it.

"He was in hard denial up until St. Louis." Annabeth murmured. Grover winced.

"I was trying to forget St. Louis happened." He complained, glaring at Annabeth. She shrugged and said she was sorry, but everybody knew she wasn't the least bit sorry.

Everybody was wondering if they wanted to know what happened in St. Louis, or if they would be happier not knowing. A few that hadn't been at camp then (Piper and Jason on an outing to the Mortal world, plus Frank) remembered hearing news reports about a crazy kid that torched the Arch and started wondering...

 **(Grover gazed down from... not as smart as Annabeth.)**

"You're still pretty smart." Grover turned a little red at the unexpected compliment from most of the room.

 **(I'm not as brave as you.)**

"You're a very brave Satyr."

"I'm happy to fight beside you any day." Grover turned a little redder.

 **(But I'm pretty good at reading emotions.)**

"There were moments where I got a pretty good idea on them since we got to camp. Most of the time, though, they were more chaotic than ever." Grover said, shaking his head. "It would have helped us figure out his parentage if we knew that before this reading, though." He complained grumpily.

"Hmm. I don't think so," Chiron disagreed. "I already figured that his father was a sea deity. The only question I really had was, which one? It stands to reason that the turbulent emotions the satyrs sense is true for ALL children of the Sea, and not just children of Poseidon." He reasoned out.

Poseidon smirked at him and confirmed. It was that way with _all_ children of the sea, his children were just harder to read at times because of their stronger parentage.

 **(You're glad your dad is alive... to notice what you'd done.")**

Annabeth sighed. "While all that is true, it's not something Percy was necessarily ready to hear." She said with a grimace. Poseidon had looked proud and vaguely hopeful, but when she said that, he grimaced too. Percy was stubborn, so he'd likely be hearing all about how much Percy didn't like him and didn't want him for a long time yet, in this book.

Grover sighed, too. "Yeah, well. He needed to hear it, anyway. Give him a good kick in the right direction." He grumbled. Honestly, Percy's emotions whenever his dad was brought up had actually been giving him a headache. And, like he told them in the warehouse, Satyrs couldn't even get headaches!

 **("Yeah? Well maybe satyr... I don't care what he thinks.")**

"Wow. Somebody was denial." Was muttered.

Jason glanced over at Percy, wondering on how on earth it was that the guy with the most envied relationship with his father, at one point tried denying his father existed. Clearly some effort was made on both sides at some point, but wow. That had to have quite some effort.

Jason was thinking that he completely understood where Percy was coming from, having gone through it several times growing up, just wanting Jupiter to acknowledge his efforts in some way... and then it never happened. Instead, Juno gave him his old coin, and said to become Praetor. To work harder to make _her_ proud. When she wasn't the one he wanted acknowledgement from.

 **(Grover pulled his feet... "Okay, Percy. Whatever.")**

Grover sighed. "I was not awake enough to argue about it with him." He muttered. Annabeth looked sympathetic. She'd been there before. Once Percy got in the mood to argue about everything, it was best to just end the conversation there and try to continue it later, when he was in a better mood to listen to their side and actually think, and reason.

 **("Besides, I haven't done anything worth bragging about.)**

"Are you...?" Several people tried to ask Percy at once, before remembering that he wasn't in here right now. "Is he serious?" They asked Annabeth and Grover instead.

They grimaced, and after a short debate, Annabeth answered. "Percy has some... issues, when it comes to acknowledging his accomplishments. Personally, I think it's left over from the years of living with Gabe constantly tearing him down and all that. He doesn't really think he's all that powerful, either, he's always saying that he's just been lucky all these years, or that he only got through it because of the people with him at the time. There will be moments, when he'll actually acknowledge that he has plenty of bragging rights over something or someone, or say something arrogant that he has every hard-earned right to say, but those moments are rare." She said.

Grover picked it up then, "He has a habit of focusing more on his perceived failures than any of his accomplishments." He finished. Annabeth nodded in agreement. A few of the other Titan veterans nodded their own agreement, they'd noticed a bit of this over the years, too. Obviously not to the extent Grover and Annabeth had, but still.

The MS were trying to ignore how Annabeth was staring Percy down, with a well practiced look on her face that proclaimed him to be an idiot. They knew that if they looked, they would start laughing, or telling Percy off for those ideas again. They'd noticed those habits of his not long after they left America. He'd mostly been sulking about the whole 'getting trapped and not being able to get out' thing, but there had been a few other times when he thought he failed everyone.

Hades snorted. "That kid probably has the most bragging rights in the world at this point." He muttered. A humble demigod... who knew it was possible.

Hazel heard his comment and snorted to herself. Oh, yeah. He had bragging rights, alright, she thought bitterly. He could brag all about how he survived the Pit and now could barely sleep at night because of it. Some bragging rights.

 **(We barely got out of New... money and no way west.")**

"He's got a point with that one."

"Like I said, he focuses on his perceived failures and ignored his accomplishments." Grover said again.

"Besides, we found a way west." Annabeth murmured, scratching Mrs. O'Leary and making her whine in pleasure when her humans mate hit a sweet spot. Annabeth smiled fondly at the hellhound.

The youngers stared at the girl and hellhound in silent shock and awe. They never would have imagined that one of the most dangerous monsters could act so much like a normal dog. Just how on earth did Percy get her, and where?

 **(Grover looked at the night... huh? You get some sleep.")**

"I thought you said you were too tired?" Clarisse asked deadpan.

"I was said I wasn't to deal with Percy in that mood. I never said I was too tired. Besides, I needed some time alone to think about a few things." Grover shrugged. He was watching Annabeth rope _Percy_ into continuing to play Hangman with her, she said it would help him practice his Ancient Greek. She promised to use English for him, and write the Greek equivalent underneath it, while if he knew some Greek, to go ahead and use it on her all she liked, as long as he told her which language he was using.

The card game in the corner with some of the MS and others was still going strong.

 **(I wanted to protest, but he... Concerto no. 12, I was asleep.)**

"How did he know what I was playing?" Grover asked, surprised. He'd never pegged Percy as a classical listener.

"Lily loves Mozart. You could almost say she's obsessed. She'll buy anything with his music on it that she can, we're even setting aside money that we're supposed to be giving to Gabe, from our summer jobs, so she can start piano lessons." _Percy_ explained. He didn't mind, either. He had fun keeping it from Gabe, even if he was terrified of what would happen if Gabe ever found out about it. Especially with Gabe in his corner, trying to get loose so he could go and strangle the 'little thief'. He got blasted with ice-cold sea water.

"Ah, yes. I remember the look on her face when I had to tell her that she couldn't have piano lessons." Sally said softly. She could have taught her, herself, of course. Except it had been years since she played, and even longer since she had a piano of her own to play on. She'd had to sell her uncle's piano when he got sick, in an effort to have that little bit of extra money. After that, she'd go over to a school friend's house to use theirs. And, then, once she'd found out she was pregnant and not even married, that friend wanted nothing more to do with her.

 **(In my dreams, I stood in a dark cavern before a gaping pit.)**

There was a whimper from the MS that they couldn't hold in this time. When they looked, they noticed it came from the girl with the Drakon bone sword, and the one with his sword fuzzed out was trying to comfort her, although a few of them could see by how tense his shoulders were that he was trying to hold it together himself.

Sally sucked in a breath, the only reason her boy and Annabeth would be acting this way... was if they went to Tartarus themselves. And survived. And she did not want to think about her boy being anywhere near there.

The other five MS were looking helplessly on as the two tried to keep it together. They knew that if any of them tried to help, if the two of them were touched while they were like this, they could make it worse.

Zeus was heard muttering denials that this had anything to do with Kronos, and seemed to have decided that Percy's demigod dreams were just stranger than most.

 **(Gray mist creatures churned...** **were the spirits of the dead.)**

Hades looked worried. "He's dreaming about the entrance in the Underworld."

"Which means that, either way, the answers to this whole quest lie in the Underworld somewhere." Amphitrite said with a sigh, while watching Percy and Annabeth struggle to calm down.

Eventually, the two of them just got up quietly and left.

 _In the Gardens:_

"Well, it's clear that it will take a while before we can just hear about it out of nowhere." Annabeth said after they sat for a few minutes out in one of the gardens.

"Yeah. Well, we knew that it would be a long time, if ever, before we were back to normal." Percy said, mostly repeating what his mom told him when he completely lost it about feeling so weak because he couldn't handle a few memories even weeks after it happened, when everyone else needed him to be strong.

"True." She said, and left it like that.

"You calmer, now?" Percy called, and Percy's head slowly came up out of the water in the fountain.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good now." He said. "I'm just not sure if I should go in just yet... I forgot the kids were in there... and I know that they are us, but-" He finished helplessly.

"But they haven't gone through the same experiences, they are still so young and relatively innocent. Naive." Percy finished for him.

"Well, as young innocent and naive as a demigod can ever be." Annabeth muttered beside him, pulling a grin and agreeing chuckle out of her Seaweed Brain's.

Percy sighed. "Where are they in the book?" He asked, and then frowned in worry when they froze and had to pull themselves together, looking frustrated with themselves while they did.

"They just got to the part with your dream, in the Underworld."

Percy frowned in thought, having to search his memory to figure out which dream they were talking about, he'd had a lot of dreams during the quest of the Pit. "Before we met Gladiola?" He asked to be sure. He didn't even stop to think that they might not know what he was talking about, these two knew who Gladiola were, they were there just like he was.

"Yeah, before Gladiola." Percy snorted a laugh, wondering what the point had been in the Fates telling them not to say who they were. Anybody with a brain would have it figured out by now. Unless, they were just messing with those who hadn't figured it out...? That was possible, after all, the Fates had to have some fun too. Hopefully that fun just didn't involved bringing about the Apocalypse or something similar. That would be bad... for obvious reasons.

Percy frowned. "I'll go back later, for now I'm just gonna stay here." He quirked a grin and disappeared back under the water, leaving Annabeth to huff a laugh at her boyfriend while Percy looked like he wanted to join him.

 _Back in the Throne room:_

"I hope those two are alright." Sally whispered the Hestia beside her.

"They will be." She reassured. "They just need time."

 **(They tugged at my clothes, trying to pull me back,)**

Hades actually sat back a little and breathed in relief. Sometimes the spirits could be tricky near the pit. He tried to keep them away and usually they were too afraid of it, but sometimes... These must be some of the guards he had in place to keep the others back.

The last thing he needed was for one of the Ancient ones within the Pit to set a spirit on the rampage. Which could sometimes happen when they were grabbed and twisted. The mortal tales of Poltergeists had nothing on what they turned into. He did not want that happening again. No, sir.

He also didn't want Percy getting pulled in there, even if it was in his dreams. He'd had to go down there once... he never wanted to go back. And he was a god, he could handle it a lot better than Percy's mortal mind could. He glanced at the door where Percy and Annabeth had disappeared. He would have to ask them, later on when he was sure they wouldn't freak out on him, how they survived it and escaped.

 **(but I felt compelled to... very edge of the chasm.)**

"Oh no." Was the general consensus. Annabeth and Grover looked at bit pale. If Percy had been drawn into the Pit, even in his dreams... well, there was a reason why the Beings in the Pit only drew mortals dreams to edge, and not down there with them.

Mortals were no use to them when their bodies were lying in a hospital, brain-dead, after all.

They were so lucky Percy hadn't been pulled in.

 **(Looking down made me...** **it must be bottomless.)**

"Yes and no." Hades muttered.

 **(Yet I had a feeling that...** **something huge and evil.)**

"Oh, it was evil alright." A few of those who fought him muttered. The faces of all those who fell fighting him flashed through their minds.

Zeus frowned. He really didn't like where this was going. He didn't like it at all.

 **(The little hero, an amused... but perhaps you will do.)**

"Do for what?" _Clarisse_ asked suspiciously. Whenever something very old and very powerful told you that you would do, it wasn't usually a good sign. AT ALL.

Annabeth grimaced. "I think I know what he was talking about." She glanced at Luke, and he grimaced. If Kronos had been able to turn Percy to his side, then it would have been Percy's body he inhabited. It would have been Percy's body with Kronos in command of it that would have led the armies against Olympus. Luke himself had been the secondary choice.

A few of the older kids caught on to what Annabeth was saying, and they weren't sure whether to be horrified for Percy, or sympathetic for Luke. Nobody likes being the backup plan, after all. But at the same time, in cases like this... nobody really liked being part of the plan at all.

 **(The voice felt ancient-cold... me like sheets of lead.)**

Both Lukes shivered at hearing it described this way. It never felt this way in their dreams, it was usually, well... not really warm and inviting. But it didn't feel oppressive like it did for Percy.

Luke wondered if it would have been easier to resist if he had felt like it was oppressive, and not neutral like Kronos was when whispering to him. Because dream-Percy was describing his real aura to a T, and the real aura spoke at odds with what Kronos said he wanted to do.

 **(They have misled you...** **dissolved in a shower of gold.)**

"Clever." Hades murmured with a grimace. Then again, this was Kronos they were talking about here. "Pretending that _he_ took the boys mother, and saying he can give her back. He was probably going to have Percy challenge me or something after telling him that I was the one who actually had her.

"Don't listen to him." A few of the younger demigods muttered, to the older ones amusement. Percy wouldn't listen to him, if anything he might make a direct challenge to him. I'll beat you, and you'll give her back. Or something like that.

"Also cruel." Poseidon whispered, watching Sally almost collapse at hearing that her 'death' was being thrown in her sons face as a bargaining chip. She, of course, remembered none of this.

 **(Her face was distorted with... directly at me, pleading: Go!)**

"Were you aware?" Somebody asked Sally, timidly.

She smiled softly at him, but shook her head no. "I think I was frozen. I don't remember anything after being picked up." She answered, making a few people sigh in relief. It was good that she didn't remember. Being able to see through the Mist or not, there were some sights that a mortal brain just could not handle, and seeing the Underworld would be one of them.

They only got around that because of the godly blood in their veins. It buffered them from a lot of things that would turn ordinary mortals insane.

 **(I tried to cry out, but...** **force pulled me forward.)**

A few people gasped, worried. Once again, they forgot that he was here, well, not in the room at the moment, but he was _here_. He was safe, he didn't get pulled in. (This time, anyway.)

The MS exchanged looks, if they were reacting to him _almost_ being pulled in, then how would they react when he _was_ pulled in?

 **(It would drag me into...** **against the treacherous gods!)**

The gods all sucked in a breath. There was no doubt to their minds what was going on now. Most of them knew who it was, A couple were in denial still, but knew that there was a threat coming. Hades frowned in concern, trying to think how he could convince Zeus that the threat was real, and they needed to act now. Zeus had always been so difficult to convince in times like this...

Right now, they were all just hoping Percy didn't listen, especially with the promise right in front of him, the promise of getting his mother back.

 **(The spirits of the dead...** **using me to pull itself out.)**

A few of the gods started muttering amongst themselves. Only the strongest residents of Tartarus would be able to do that.

The demigods were pale, this was horrible! They had bad dreams, sure, but nothing like this! When they looked at the other Big 3 kids, they noticed that none of them looked particularly disturbed, as if they were used to this sort of thing. Well, they probably were being Big 3 kids themselves, but still! Was this really an every night occurrence for them? They couldn't imagine being able to sleep knowing that you might have dreams like this one. It gave them a new understanding of what it meant to be a Big 3 kid, and made them understand that it wasn't always the envied position that some of them thought it was.

When they looked at Poseidon, they noticed him frowning in concern, but he was acting like the other kids, like this was only marginally worse than usual for a Big 3 demigod.

 **(Good, it murmured. Good...** **Annabeth said, "the zombie lives.")**

"We'd been trying to wake him up for ages." Annabeth explained while everyone else sighed in relief that it was over. They were worried, though, about just what this meant, especially that this being seemed so interested in Percy.

It was then that Annabeth and Percy came back in from where ever they were hiding during the dream. How they managed to time it so well... What they didn't know was that Percy had been using his control over water to sort of hear what was happening. Not even to hear what was being said, but enough to know when it was safe.

The gods didn't care about that, though, they were arguing with Zeus over what that dream meant. Zeus was positive it was nothing, Beings within the Pit stirred every now and then, nothing had ever come of it. It most certainly WASN'T Kronos. The others were trying to convince that it was, and even if it wasn't, they should prepare so they could be ready if it WAS. Numerous attempts were made to remind him of what Percy's titles were, what the young demigod had said when they first arrived. Ares repeated his observations that the kids went through war, but nothing would get through to him.

He absolutely refused to believe that Kronos was rising, was even capable of rising.

Finally, to his relief, Hestia called a stop to the argument so they could continue reading and hear for positive. Even though she agreed with everyone else...

Zeus was terrified of what it meant, that Father could come back. It meant that all their old enemies could come back. First the Titans, then what next? The Giants? The Primordials themselves, deciding that they'd slept long enough? They'd won the first Titan War by the skin of their teeth last time, and then barely beat back the Giants once they appeared. No, he refused to believe that they were really rising. He refused to believe that this little dream was anything but a false alarm.

He was terrified that it wasn't, and they wouldn't be strong enough to win this time.

 **(I was trembling from the dream...** **from Aunty Em's snack bar.)**

A few people snorted while Annabeth shrugged. "Nice cooking skills." Rachel teased as the last of the tension from the dream faded.

Annabeth grinned at her. "I thought so." She said brightly.

 **("And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend.")**

"A friend?" Katie asked curiously.

"Eh, kind of." Annabeth said with a shrug.

 **(My eyes had trouble focusing..** **. It was a pink poodle.)**

Piper cocked her head to the side, as a half-formed memory came to mind. Why did something about this sound familiar?

"That's just cruel. Turning a dog pink. That poor thing better at least be female." Somebody muttered. Grover and Annabeth had a sudden coughing fit.

"Percy couldn't even tell it was a dog because of it at first."

Nobody saw Percy's face turn red underneath his hood at the fact he thought it was a stuffed animal. In his defense, though, the thing was pink, dirty, and a little ragged looking, like a little girls favorite toy would be.

 **(The poodle yapped at me... said, "No, he's not.")**

"Hey, what was he saying, anyway?" Annabeth asked, curious. She never asked before, she'd kind of half-forgotten this conversation, actually.

Grover cleared his throat. "You don't want to know." He said, uncomfortable. And really, where on earth did dogs even begin to get ideas like that? He and Percy were _NOT_ mates!

 **(I blinked. "Are you ... talking to that thing?")**

"Something else you forgot to tell him." Annabeth told Grover dryly.

"Oops?" He said sheepishly. "I think I've told him the important stuff by now though..." He said cheerfully. At least, he was pretty sure he had by now. But, one never knows, they had kind of been going from one fight to the next for years now. And, it wasn't anywhere close to calming down yet. Not by a long-shot, they still had to start the Giant war, despite the attacks they'd been enduring for months now. All of them without half of their leadership at camp... and soon both of their leaders would be gone on yet another important, fate-of-the-world-in-their-hands, quest. He still wasn't sure why they'd asked Hedge to go with them, and not him. But, he was pretty sure his duties as Lord of the Wild had something to do with it.

Hopefully things would calm down after the war with the Giants was over.

 **(The poodle growled.)**

"I'd be offended if I was called a thing, too." Somebody muttered, and everyone else nodded in agreement.

 **("This thing," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him.")**

A bunch of people groaned at hearing that it was, indeed, a MALE pink poodle.

 **("You can talk to animals?"...** **Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy.")**

Piper gasped as she suddenly remembered. Then she started laughing, because that dog hadn't stayed put for very long after being returned. Not that she blamed the poor thing... with an owner like that? When she calmed down, Jason was watching her with a raised eyebrow, "Care to share?" He asked, amused.

"Gladiola belonged to a work friend of my fathers. They were in Jersey for a shooting, and Gladiola got out of the trailer, took off. A couple of days later, he was returned, and didn't even make it three hours before he was gone again. And to my knowledge, he was never found a second time. To think that you guys were the ones who found him..." She snorted.

"Were you there?" Annabeth asked, curious.

"Yup, school was out, so I could go with dad on his trips." She made a face. "Oh, I wasn't there that day, though. I was in the city with dad, he wasn't scheduled for anything that day with the film, so he took me sight-seeing. It was one of the few days I got to really spend with him." Until, of course, the paparazzi (she preferred to think of them as payed stalkers) showed up about halfway through visiting the Statue of Liberty. They always showed up and ruined everything.

"Where all in the city did you guys go?" _Percy_ asked, curious.

"The usual spots for New York. Statue of Liberty, Broadway, Central Park. Those places. We couldn't get to everything we had planned though." She made a face again. "Stupid photographers thinking they can have a right to other people's privacy." She grumbled.

 _Percy_ crooked a grin, "You and your dad come back, and you can go on a Tour A la Percy." He said, volunteering his older self. Annabeth snorted. Piper looked amused, but accepted his offer. After all, he was the New Yorker, he would know all the best places, right?  Percy snorted at his younger self, and shook his head.

 **(I stared at Annabeth, figuring... but she looked deadly serious.)**

"I was. We needed that dog to get west." She said with a shrug.

"It's even funnier now that Percy is known at his school as 'the poodle guy'." Thalia said with a grin.

"Wait, what?" Annabeth and Grover asked. "I've never heard about this." They glanced at each other, startled before they focused back on Thalia.

"He never told you?" Nico asked, surprised. When they shook their heads 'no', he and Thalia glanced at each other, surprised. Then they glanced at Persephone, before Nico started a _heavily_ edited version. No need to get her in trouble over something she hadn't done yet, after all. "Persephone was having something made, sort of as a surprise, you know? Well, Iapetus" He ignored how Percy and Annabeth gasped and almost lost it again, "had stolen it and was trying to get out of the Underworld with it, so she sent us after him to stop him. The way she summoned us, well, she just kinda... reverse shadow-walked me there. I don't know, she waited until Thalia was on her own, hunting a stag or something and summoned her, but Percy was in the middle of an exam at school."

"So, she sent Mrs. O'Leary to get him out." Thalia said cheerfully. "And since mortals can't see through the Mist very well..." She trailed off suggestively.

"The mortals saw a Poodle in place of a hellhound." Thalia nodded.

"And since Percy is kind of the school troublemaker, the fact that he has a poodle was great teasing material for the other students." Paul said ruefully. "The students were expecting him to have a tougher looking dog, not a poodle."

"What happened to Iapetus? Did you guys get it back?" Travis asked.

Nico and Thalia glanced at each other again. "We ended up chasing him to the edge of the River Lethe. Well, Percy decided to be, well, Percy, and pull off a stupidly reckless move that should never have worked, but somehow did."

"Wait, I think I know where this is going." Annabeth interrupted, with a long-suffering look on her face. "He shoved both himself and Iapetus in the River Lethe and then managed to control the river so he didn't get wet, therefore keeping his memories intact."

They nodded. "Turns out that the River Lethe is too strong for even a Titan. His name is now Bob, and he works in Fathers palace as a janitor."

Percy gave a choked sounding sob before he managed to rein it in, Annabeth was beside him, trying to hold it together herself, and the other MS were rallied around the two trying to offer some comfort. Once they came out of the Pit, they'd managed to share with the rest of the group how they escaped, particularly the part Damasen and Bob played in it.

Nico heard the sob, and flinched. He glanced towards Thalia, "I'm guessing things didn't end well for Bob." He murmured. But, he supposed that they would find out eventually. He only hoped that he would get to stay to hear it.

Hestia waited for a few of the demigods to finish congratulating Thalia and Nico (Percy wasn't there) on getting the stolen object back before she continued. The chapter was almost over, thank goodness. Luckily, the others managed to rein in Zeus before he could go on another paranoid rant about how the boy was too powerful and needed to be destroyed.

 **("I'm not saying hello..** **.**

 **I said hello to the poodle.)**

There were a few chuckles, and teasing comments made towards Percy that probably would have been funnier if he were here to hear them and defend himself, but he wasn't so they moved on pretty quickly.

 **(Grover explained that he'd... away from a rich local family,)**

"I thought you said..." Leo started.

"I did, and they are. Not all actors and actresses live in California, you know." She said wryly.

 **(who'd posted a $200 reward for his return.)**

"$200? That's it? That's all their dog is worth to them?" Rachel asked, incredulous. She knew that if it was her dog, she'd be paying a lot more than $200.

"Yeah, well." Piper said with a sigh. "They weren't the most attentive owners anyway. Like I said, Gladiola was gone again three hours after he was returned. Never to be seen again." She shrugged. She honestly hoped the dog was alright, it wasn't fault he had the owners that he did.

Rachel scowled.

 **(Gladiola didn't really want... it meant helping Grover.)**

There were a few wolf-whistles and catcalls that had Grover flushing bright red and glaring before playing a quick tune on his pipes and making the floor rise up to encase those who whistled or called. Then he put his pipes away calmly like nothing ever happened, leaving only their eyes, ears, and nose free so they could still listen to the story and breathe.

He got a few people moving away from him slowly when they noticed the satisfied glint in his eyes. _Grover_ stared at him in amazement while Chiron looked particularly proud.

It seemed that Grover had finally come into his own. He always knew the satyr was particularly powerful, _Grover_ and even the Council just could never see it themselves.

 **("How does Gladiola know...** **" Grover said. "Duh.")**

"Dogs can read?" Was quietly asked.

"Some dogs, the more intelligent breeds. There are others though..." Grover shook his head, he honestly wondered about some dogs.

 **("Of course," I said. "Silly me.")**

"I think he was starting to get overwhelmed with the order of the world again." Katie said sympathetically.

"Yeah, he was probably waiting for up to become down and right to become left." Piper said in agreement. Grover and Annabeth glanced at each other. They had really not done a very good job of making sure Percy knew some of what to expect when they first introduced him to the Greek world.

 **("So we turn in Gladiola,... to Los Angeles. Simple.")**

"And hope nothing else happens on the way." Clarisse added on.

"Yeah, like another monster attacking the bus,"

"Or whatever mode of transport you chose this time." The Stolls chimed in from where they were still playing cards with Frank and Piper.

"How about hoping they have enough money to get them as far as they need to go first." Jason said dryly. That was a pretty big concern. Would they be able to make it all the way with the $200? Especially if they planned to eat at all during the trip.

Annabeth and Grover grimaced. Yeah, the $200 wasn't enough to get them all the way, but it got them most of the way and they then found a way from there. In that case, the casino was a mixed blessing. Grover wondered idly if Percy still had his card from that place... and if it would still work. Because if it did, then the Argo could stop near Vegas after picking up the three from the Roman camp, and get some money for the trip. The camp would only be able to provide so much for such a long trip, after all. They would have all the food they needed, but they might need to purchase other supplies.

 **(I thought about my dream-the...** **warily.**

 **"No," Annabeth agreed.)**

"Oh, good." Was muttered.

 **(She pointed downhill, toward... train leaves at noon.")**

"Well, at least the train would actually get you there faster than the bus." Clarisse said with a shrug.

"Yes, but if the train was attacked, there are way more mortals that could get hurt or in the way on a train." Chris pointed out.

"Yeah, but they also have more room to maneuver. And, they could just lock the mortals in one car while they deal with the monster in another. Built in containment system." She argued back.

"That's the end of that chapter." Hestia broke in, shaking her head. "Who wants to read next?" She asked, glancing at the chapter title and getting worried. It wasn't really to the boys death... after all, he was out wandering the palace right now... the boy would be fine, right?

"I guess I will." Rachel said, looking up from where she was drawing something on a sketchpad.

After she got the book, she glanced over at the doors, wondering when Percy was going to come back, when she decided to just start reading. He would come in when he cooled off. " **Chapter thirteen: I Plunge to My Death**


End file.
